New Moon: Reversed Roles
by Geneth
Summary: In New Moon, Edward left Bella heartbroken and Jacob gets his chance to pick up the pieces. But what if everything was different? What if Jacob abandoned Bella in her time of need, and Edward was there to catch her from falling? Sequel to AU fanfic T:RR.
1. Prologue

I felt as if I was trapped in a dream, one of those ghastly nightmares where you're forced to run for miles and miles, to the point of exhaustion and possibly near-death. And, no matter what I did, it didn't seem like I was running fast enough. My legs were aching from the effort of my body, but nothing was going at the speed I wanted. I pushed through the obstacles in my way, bumping into angry pedestrians and urging them to move, but still time went on. And soon, time would come to an end for me and for him.

But, unfortunately, this wasn't a nightmare, let alone a dream. And I wasn't running from anything, I was running towards something, someone to be exact. And his life, so more precious than my own, was being risked because of one mistake, one stupid ugly mistake.

Seth had told me that we might not make it out of this punishable place alive. I understood that and, although he and the others wished they could, they were forbidden to step on this land, banned by the cruel rulers who owned this place. So, it was up to me to find him, and tell him what was right.

I wasn't going to make it though.

But, I pushed on, the stitch in my stomach tightening with every move I made. A bell began to toll in the distant, shaking the ground slightly as it announced the hour had come. The soles of my feet shook, and I could hear the growls from the plaza. I was too late, and he had done it now. Several creatures lurked in the center of the town and, for just being involved in one of those monster's lives, I was about to give up the right to live with him once again.

A bloodthirsty howl sounded in the distant as the sun set directly in the center of the sky.


	2. Party

Dear God, it's finally here :D (Well sorta...)

This is Chapter One of **New Moon: Reversed Roles**, the sequel to **Twilight: Reversed Roles** and it is almost exactly like Preview Chapter One minus a few spelling mistakes and such. If you've never read **Twilight: Reversed Roles**, I highly recommend you read it, or else you won't understand a majority of what's going on. The official date for Chapter Two of **New Moon: Reversed Roles** will be on October 18th, 2009 when it is, coincidentally, a new moon. So, sit back and reexamine the story for a bit :) See you in a few days!

~Geneth

PS This story has been beta-read by the wonderful **sbsp92**, who has put up with me since I finished **Twilight: Reversed Roles** and gives just the right amount of encouragement to give me the motor skills to keep on going. Thanks for that :D  
PPS In case you haven't been keeping up with my random profile changes and the changes to the summary of the story, **Twilight: Reversed Roles** has been nominated for a Razzle Dazzle Award for Best Use of Wolves, a Sparkle Award for Best Alternate Universe, and a Moonlight Award for Best Werewolf Story. It would mean so much to me if you guys would vote for **Twilight: Reversed Roles** (not this story, by the way) in those categories. I'm not sure when the voting days are, but I will eventually put up a note or something to tell you... :)

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Maybe it was because I had watched too much television the night before, or maybe it was because I was spending every breathing hour with my boyfriend but, for some reason, I was dreaming that I could see ghosts.

I was sitting on a plush white armchair, sitting directly across from my dead grandmother. She and I were both dressed in plain white gowns, facing each other with surprised expressions on our faces. Grandma hadn't changed since I last saw her nearly five years ago. Her long white hair, nearly blending in with her delicate dress, was up to her waist. She had refused to cut it and had forbidden me from cutting my own before she died. Her face was soft and papery, wrinkled with thousands of laugh lines and ceases in her skin.

I smiled at her, pleased to finally see her again, and she twisted her lips into a half-smile at the same time. I wanted to ask her something, something about where we were now and how had she been, and she opened her mouth as well. We both paused, embarrassed and waiting for the other to go first.

Suddenly, a soft playful growl sounded from beside me.

We both jumped in unison. The growl was familiar to me, one that I heard when he was in both human and wolf form. We turned to see a beautiful boy sauntering over to us, his glorious amber eyes full of life. Great, now I had to introduce my dead grandmother to my boyfriend, the love of my life and my guardian wolf.

Jacob, my Jacob.

He stopped next to me, resting his hand on the back of my chair. He cocked his head to the side, staring at me and then my grandmother in the mirror. And then, with no warning beforehand, Jacob shifted into a large russet-brown wolf, one that looked at the world through different eyes. Full of panic, I turned to my grandmother, and saw that on her face was a matching look of shock. Her brown eyes seemed to widen as she looked at me, with mixed emotions I couldn't read.

The wolf strolled up next to me, and sat obediently next to my leg. I raised my hand and stroked the fur on his back gently, the motion soothing me. I looked up timidly to my grandmother, waiting to see her scared and possibly disgusted expression.

But her face surprised me. Instead of the feelings I thought I would see, her delicate features were twisted into a face of almost guilt. Her eyes pleaded with me to be silent about something I couldn't see. One of her arms was outstretched, and her hand was moving up and down over and over again, as if it was petting an invisible animal.

I blinked, suddenly seeing the strange metal frame surrounding us, the edge of it resting just a few feet away from me. I got to my feet, and my grandma mimicked my movements. We stepped towards each other in unison, step by step, until we were exactly five inches apart. Hesitantly, I raised my hand, as did she. Shaking, our hands touched, and I was alarmed that her hand was cold and felt like hard glass.

My body began to shake, and Jacob let out a whimper from the armchair behind me. Realization shot through my body like blood, and I looked my grandmother straight in the eye. Her eyes…they had always been a lighter shade of brown, not such a deep chocolate brown like mine…

Suddenly, the mirror shattered, the other side giving way and glass flying in all directions. I shrieked and was thrown back, landing curled up in a fetal position with glass landing all over me. My body stung with the dozen crystals that dug into every inch of my skin.

Jacob walked towards me, back in human form somehow, absurdly handsome and forever eighteen. He stroked my cheek lightly, but suddenly, a beautiful girl with golden brown hair floated past us, her abnormal light purple eyes watching Jacob with lust in her eyes. Jacob glanced up at her, his eyes suddenly widening. He scrambled to his feet, running towards her and immediately linked his arm in hers. They started to walk away, looking like the perfect couple he and I could never be, when Jacob turned back and mouthed something inaudible with his perfect lips.

"Happy birthday."

I yanked myself upright, springing my body up from my bed. My heart was pounding louder and faster than a beating drum, and I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. My hand fluttered to my heart and I looked around anxiously. A dim light shone through the blinds of my windows, creating a dull glow that represented the sun of Forks, Washington. No fluffy white clouds, fancy golden frames, or plush recliners… _Just a dream. Just a damn stupid dream…_I told myself as I got slowly out of bed.

My alarm clocked buzzed quietly, and I hit the off button with a bit too much force. Next to the digital numbers was another group of flashing digits, this time announcing that today was September 13, otherwise known as my birthday. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. I was now officially eighteen, the same age as my boyfriend and growing older by the minute.

Most people rejoiced when it was their birthday, excited about all the gifts they would get and the parties they would attend. I, however, started hating the coming of my birthday as soon as I met Jacob. I could feel it lurking behind me, the spirit of oldness creeping up behind me and slowly causing me to grow. Soon, in the stint of twelve months, I would be another year older.

Something Jacob would never be. That is, unless he found his perfect match.

His perfect match…We had spent most of the summer together, driving to Port Angeles occasionally with his pack and the wolf-girls, and I always kept him close, worried that we might bump into some busty blonde who would steal him away from me. Jacob responded to my new control over him with a simple shrug; he knew how much he meant to me and returned those feelings with emotions as passionate as my own.

I got ready for school in a daze, brushing my teeth and dressing in casual but heavy clothing. As I pulled on my faded pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, I examined my body for signs of aging or wrinkles that had so easily ceased my face in my dream. To my relief, I looked relatively the same as yesterday and the day before. _It was just a dream, you dope_, I reminded myself as I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast.

Resting next to a bowl of cereal was my present from my parents. Charlie was already in his seat, and he looked up with mild excitement as I sat down and slowly unwrapped the package. A state-of-the-art digital camera and a USB drive to hold the pictures laid under the wrapping. I forced a smile at my father and thanked him, but Charlie just blushed and hid behind his newspaper. If I had been with my mother, she would've ordered me to try it out and do a bunch of things with it before she finally let it drop.

After I ate, I got into my like-new truck, and drove gingerly to school. The image of Grandma's face kept appearing in my mind as I drove, and I nearly swerved out of my lane several times. I gripped the wheel with more force, turning on the radio and forcing myself to recognize the lyrics of each individual song. As I pulled into my usual parking spot and saw Jacob leaning against his glossy motorcycle, the feeling of dread that I had tried so hard to erase rushed back into me. Inhaling deeply, I turned off the engine of the car and slowly got out.

Jacob waved at me as I made my way towards him, and he straightened himself, brushing some dark hair out from in front of his liquid brown eyes. He was forever frozen in the picture of perfection while I was slowly turning into a withering old crone. And, in grease-stained jeans and a tightly fitting shirt, he looked more beautiful with every step I made towards him.

Waiting next to him was the rest of his pack, his almost family. Quil was sitting on his own bike with little Claire, his much younger girlfriend, behind him. Claire had her arms around Quil's shoulders, and a pinch of jealousy crept up to my brain. She was already his perfect match and, in maybe two years, they would start aging at the same pace, probably dying together in the comfort of their own home.

Also next to them were Seth, the miniature version of Jacob and the youngest wolf of the bunch, and Embry, Jacob's wingman and the biggest flirter of the school. The two boys had shared a bike on the way over, obviously saving gas. I scanned the parking lot for Leah, the only she-wolf of the Quileutes, and saw her pretending to read a magazine on a bench. As soon as I was within a few yards of the wolves, however, she got to her feet and stomped into the school. She was the only girl who hated me more than life itself.

All of the boys were startling gorgeous, with smooth russet skin, dark eyes that glittered in the light, and glossy black hair that grew faster than an average human's. They all possessed the bodies of serious weight lifters, with hardened muscles and heights exceeding well over six feet. Leah, however, was the female picture of perfection, with her cropped short dark hair and the kind of body you see on the cover of a magazine. Claire, who had no Quileute blood running through her veins, was a just as delicate and pretty, with light brown hair and a kind, heart-shaped face.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused loudly as I approached them.

I hushed them quickly, waving my hands around in the air like a maniac. I looked around, seeing with relief that no one had heard them say those dreaded words.

Quil raised a heavy-set brow curiously, exchanging a look with Embry and Seth. Claire, however, hopped down from Quil's motorcycle and stood in front of him with mild enthusiasm in her eyes. She was normally a timid girl, but when a stimulating event, like say prom or my birthday, came up, she turned into a bubbly girl who refused to leave me alone.

"We bought you presents! Do you want to open them now or later?" she asked eagerly.

"Never," I muttered under my breath.

Jacob chuckled, pulling me towards his massive chest and nuzzling the back of my neck. I shivered from head to toe at the touch. "You're so ridiculous, Bella," he said, and his breath tickled my back.

"I guess she wants to open them later," Quil joked lightly, massaging Claire's shoulders. "Did you like the presents from your parents, Bells?"

I managed a smile at the nickname the other wolves had given me. "How did you…"

"There was a mild storm yesterday," Seth explained, appearing next to me and giving me a warm birthday hug. That explained a lot; the Quileutes had the uncanny ability to predict the future just by looking at clouds during a stormy night. The wolf-girls and I were in-training to learn how to read them; Emily and Claire were pros while Kim and I struggled with just looking at them.

"I don't understand," Embry exclaimed, putting his hands on his bony hips. "Most people like celebrating their birthdays and getting presents."

"I don't like getting older," I mumbled, leaning my head against Jacob's massive chest to hide my blush. Jacob stiffened for a moment at my words, and then wrapped his arms around me, sending my heart into overdrive.

"But you're the same age as Jacob," Claire pointed out lightly.

"That's for now. But what about next year, and the year after that?"

Silence answered me. The wolves looked down with matching troubled expressions. It had been settled by Jacob that I was never going to be one of them, a she-wolf like Leah. Not only had Jacob firmly said no to the idea, but the Quileute elders recently told all of the wolves to keep close eyes on me, in case I did something crazy.

"What time will you be at Emily's house?" Claire asked suddenly, smoothly changing the subject.

I bit my lip. "I didn't know I had plans at Emily's. Besides, I have to work today."

Embry laughed softly. "Bells, we didn't even go through the school day yet, and you're so sure you're going to get a lot of work."

"I am," I insisted, struggling hard to avoid talking about the dreaded birthday party the wolf-girls had planned for me. "I also have to study for my History final."

"Oh please," chuckled Quil. "You're smarter than all of us combined, and I breezed through that exam yesterday. It was so ridiculously easy, you don't need to study for it."

"It's my birthday, isn't it?"

"I'll get her to you after we both study," Jacob told them, covering my mouth with one large hand. "I'm going to do some back-up studying as well, so she'll be at the house by maybe seven-thirty."

"Mmph hmm hmmm mmph hmm!" I replied, tempted to bite Jacob's slender fingers to get him to release me. It would be like biting a pencil made of steel, and he probably wouldn't even feel it…

"See? Bella's l-o-v-e-s the idea," Seth teased.

"We'll have fun, Bella. You'll see," Claire grinned as the first bell rang out into the air. "Ooh, we better get to class." We all started towards separate buildings, Quil walking Claire to her freshman classes while Seth branched off to his junior classes. Jacob kept one of his arms wrapped around me, holding both my bag and his over his free shoulder easily, and we walked slowly with Embry to our first class in the senior building.

It was amazing how Jacob's charms affected the receptionist of the school; he had smothered her with his eyes to let her put most of the Quileutes and me in the same classes. The teachers we received were almost always annoyed with us, and sometimes chose to ignore us unless we participated. The students, however, seemed to edge away from us with every passing minute. The Welcoming Committee talked to me only occasionally, Angela doing it with ease while Jessica and Mike barely spoke without their envious stares.

As the day droned on, I thought of things I could tell them to get out of having to go. I could fall down the school stairs, something I nearly did on a daily basis, but Jacob would drag me there anyways. Any injury I would receive, Jacob would respond affectionately with me resulting ether against his chest or over his shoulder. There was no way out of this.

Teachers offered me small gifts because of my special day, mostly pathetic pencils with "Happy Birthday" scribbled on them or balloons to tie to my backpack, and I stubbornly refused all of them. It made me feel guilty that I was accepting all of these gifts, and by the gleams in the Quileutes eyes, my gifts from them were going to be more extravagant and with lots of bows and ribbons.

Growing up with a part-time teacher for a mother and a small town police chief for a father, I knew that money was tight and I didn't try to spent a lot. Most of the money I managed to make went straight to the bank, where it rested with a healthy growing percent of interest every month. Jacob wasn't exactly a millionaire ether, but he still loved to spend lots of money on me. He didn't understand why I got embarrassed if he bought me a new necklace from Olympia or a dozen bouquets of flowers to decorate the small house I shared with Charlie. The other Quileutes showered their loved ones with thousands upon thousands of shiny objects, and it seemed like I was the only one who tried to give it back.

We went to our next classes, and I saw that Quileutes were showing signs of forgetting my birthday. I started slowly to relax, allowing Jacob to wrap his arm around my waist as we walked and letting him sneak kisses to my cheek and forehead when the teachers weren't looking. By the time lunch arrived, I was red from Jacob's warm touch but happy in a way.

Our new table was a long, wooden one reserved especially for seniors in the corner of the room. Down the middle of the table was an invisible line that separated us from the Welcoming Committee. On the stormy days when the Quileutes didn't go to school, conversation from their side of the table would branch out to reach Claire and I. The Welcoming Committee liked Claire, her soft manner and the way she helped them with the new senior Anatomy class, even though she was only a freshman. This was partly because Claire was a remedy genius behind the face.

As we ate, the boys clearing the plates before Claire and I could even take three bites, the main conversation was not of my surprise party but of the upcoming football game the boys were participating in against a neighboring tribe. The boys were serious athletes, and anyone who looked them in the eye knew that. Claire chatted cheerfully about an upcoming shopping trip with Emily to Seattle, and invited me along. I forced a smile, but secretly hoped Kim didn't want to go.

The easy-going, incredibly pretty Kim still went to a private school a few miles away from Forks High, and I rarely saw her, now that Jared had gone to Canada. She still came to visit Emily and the rest of the wolves, but something was missing from her. I think it was true happiness. Jacob had told me once that when the imprinted ones were separated, it was like a piece of themselves was missing. Kim was missing the piece of her life that was Jared, and it showed in the ways she spoke and acted.

The afternoon passed quickly after lunch and, after making sure Embry was going to safely drive his motorcycle back, Jacob walked me to my truck. He held the passenger door open for me, and I glared at him with my arms crossed against my chest.

"Hey, I can't even drive on my birthday? You must really love my truck."

"I thought you wanted us to forget it was your birthday," Jacob teased, placing his hands on his hips and mimicking me with a mock-sour expression.

"Well then, if it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to Emily's in fear tonight," I retorted.

He rolled his eyes and lunged forward, startling me. He scooped me up as if I was a child, arms under my knees and behind my neck. Despite my protests, he held the door open and sat me in the passenger's seat, holding me down with his right arm while he buckled me in. The wicked glint in his eyes only made him more attractive, and my attempts to escape were half-hearted.

After he closed the door and started to walk around the front of my truck, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and scrambled to sit in the driver's seat. Jacob opened the door and raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know," he said with a smirk, "I will still drive with you there." He climbed into the car, lifting me up with one arm and slipping into the seat. Gently, he placed me back onto his lap, triumphant.

"You're going to drive like this? You'll get a ticket," I commented as he started the engine.

"So? It's your car," he said, his smirk widening.

We sped out of the lot, and raced along the road, driving quickly towards Charlie's house. I felt glad that the windows of my truck were somewhat tinted, fooling most of the drivers who stopped next to us. During a traffic light, an elderly woman looked at us, rubbed her eyes with both hands, and stared up at us again. Before she could gasp, Jacob hit the gas petal and we raced away just half a second after the light turned green.

Finally, we paused and Jacob swerved the car into the driveway of Charlie's house, killing the engine and putting the car into Park in the same motion. We sat in the car in silence for a moment, but then Jacob gently tilted my head up with his left hand, lifting and turning my face to meet his. We stared into each other's eyes for the longest minute ever before Jacob moved his hand, lightly stroking the edge of my face with his incredibly talented fingers.

"I don't see why you don't like your birthday," he said slowly in a conversational tone. "I'm lucky if I even get to celebrate my nineteenth one anytime soon."

"I-I-I…" I stuttered nervously, my heart thudding loudly simply by his gentle touch. "I'm a…I a…Wha'?"

"I completely and utterly understand," Jacob murmured sarcastically, placing his finger on my lips. And then, with a tender and caressing touch, he leaned in to close the distance between our lips.

Warmth flooded my mouth, causing my cheeks to heat quickly. I kissed him back eagerly, my teeth nearly crashing into his by the sudden movement. His tongue traced the outline of my upper lip, and I shivered with delight. We held the position for a wonderful eternity, before I finally couldn't breathe and pulled away, panting and sweating quickly.

"Hmm, consider that your first birthday gift," he said with a simper, opening the door with one hand and lifting me over his shoulder with the other. After scooping up our bags from the trunk, Jacob carried me inside, rummaging in my jacket pocket and taking my key. His fingers brushed my waist and thigh, and I let out a squeal, accidentally kicking the door open. He raised an eyebrow at me and entered the house, closing the door behind us.

"So, studying in the living room?"

"Hmm mmh," I replied.

"Okie dokie." He walked us to the living room, dropping our bags next to the coffee table and plopping me down on the couch. I bounced up and down from the high drop, and I leaned up to get to my feet.

"You want something to eat?"

"Sure. I'll have a large popcorn and a super-size Coke."

I returned with a tray with two tall glasses of soda and a bowl full of popcorn. To my surprise, I found Jacob sprawled out on the carpet, a book propped in front of him, and his English and History notes neatly stacked next to him. I swallowed hard, setting the tray down before I dropped it. Jacob looked like a model posing for Vogue magazine; all he needed now was a photographer going, "Work it! Work it!" and he'd be ready to go.

"So, French Revolution, huh?" His eyes flickered up to me, and I bobbed my head up and down.

"Yep. That's what we're supposed to study…" I sank to the ground, and he pulled himself halfway up, motioning me to curl up next to him. I happily obliged, snuggling against his chest and warming from head to toe.

As we studied together, munching on popcorn and sipping soda every now and then, I couldn't focus on my notes or the textbook; all I could feel was Jacob's touch, and all I could hear was Jacob's velvety, husky voice as it slowly read each word from the book. If he did a recording of the entire textbook, I would play it over and over again, just to hear his voice run over each word with such fluency.

"Ah, _de Conseil des Cinq-Cents et Conseil des Anciens_," Jacob read off his notes, saying the words as if he had spoken French all of his life.

"_Oui, oui, mousier_," I replied in my less that fabulous accent. I turned to Jacob, expecting him to guffaw at my mispronunciation but found him staring at his book with a curious expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, Bella…It's just that the _Counsiel_ is reminding me of the Témiscamingues."

"The who? Tee-mis-cam-en-goose?"

"Almost got it," he said with a smile, adjusting his position so that he could wrap his arms around my entire body while he leaned on his back. "The Témiscamingues are like the big tribal council for werewolves, meaning they manage all of the major wolf problems and whatever may come their way."

"Do they live in Canada too, like the Kitcisakiiks?"

"You paid attention!" he beamed, ruffling my hair teasingly. "And yes, they do live in Canada, Quebec to be exact. The only thing is the Kitcisakiiks live in Val d'Or and the Témiscamingues are in Norte Dame du Nord. In fact, do you remember the story of how Sam began to undergo transformation?"

I nodded. I could never forget that story, told as Jacob and I drove home together from Seattle. The sound of our voices in my truck, with the buzz of the silenced radio in the background, was a calm and soothing memory, and I often replayed Sam's story in my mind, trying to get a feeling of the emotions he felt.

"Well, before the elders confirmed that Sam was indeed a werewolf, they had to send him to the Témiscamingues to double-check. The Témiscamingues are a powerful people, ruling the entire werewolf population with an iron grip on everything done. Some wolves, after they feel they have endured enough, go there to seek retribution from the more than willing group of elders and wolves."

"Retribution? You mean…death?"

"In most cases, yes. Actually, if a wolf wants to die but won't go down without a fight, the elders hire wolf hunters or huntresses to finish the job quickly and efficiently."

A shiver went down my spine. "So it's possible that Syrah, Valeska, or Cain might've been hired to kill a wolf?"

Jacob shrugged. "Maybe. The elders tend to choose hunters that live close to their home base, so they don't have to go all the way down South just to find one. People don't bother the Témiscamingues with their troubles unless they truly have a death wish."

"Have you…" I hesitated, not knowing if I should ask my question. "Have you ever gone…?"

"I've considered it once," he admitted. "When I found you, beaten to death by the wrath of Syrah, and I was trying to fix you in that abandoned alley, the first thought that came to my head was, 'I want to join her.' Before Seth and the wolf-girls arrived to fix you, I already started planning how I would migrate to Canada and ask the elders to finish me off."

I pulled away from Jacob's embrace, staring at him with terror in my eyes. "Never go there, Jacob! Do you understand me? Never, ever, ever! Don't you ever let them take you away from earth, from me? Understand?" My last words broke off in a slight sob, and I collapsed on my knees, willing myself not to cry.

Slowly, as if he was trying not to startle me, Jacob sat up and crawled towards me. Once he was next to me, he gently placed his arm around me again and let me lay my head on his shoulder, my silent sobs shaking my body but not moving his. He kissed my head, stroking my hair while we rocked back and forth.

"You promise?" I asked in a small voice.

"I promise," he replied.

Suddenly, Jacob lightly adjusted my position, so that I sat cross-legged on the floor while he went down on his stomach to start cleaning up his notes. I blinked curiously at him, and he gestured towards the front door five seconds before Charlie opened it.

"Hey Jacob, Bella. I got food!" A large pizza box was in his hands, and he balanced it unsteadily with one hand as he hung up his jacket and gun belt. He peered at me. "Have you been crying, Bella?" He glared at Jacob accusingly.

I scrubbed my dry eyes, wiping my sad expression off my face and busying myself with tidying up my own pile of papers. "Oh, it's nothing. Just reading about Marie Antoinette gets me a bit emotional. Imagine, Dad; everyone in town rebelling against you and chopping your head off before you explain yourself."

"Thank you, Bella, for that lovely mental image," Charlie grunted sarcastically, shuddering as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Jacob chuckled, flipping his body to get to his feet. "Let's eat before you say something else discomforting," he teased, hoisting me up easily. The talk of our conversation on death seemed to be wiped clean, and I nodded, following him into the kitchen to eat.

As we sat together at the table, Jacob swallowing his three slices without even chewing, Charlie reminded me of a previous argument I had with the Quileutes. "So, you two have any plans for the evening?"

I opened my mouth to make up something, like how we were in desperate need of studying for History, but Jacob beat me to the punch. "Actually, do you mind if I take Bella to Emily's house? Claire's been planning a party for her for like weeks, and she would be disappointed if Bella didn't come."

"Sure, she can go. The game's on in a few minutes, so unless you want to listen to me ramble about the referee being wrong, you might want to go, Bella. By the way, when are Claire and Seth coming back up?" Charlie liked Seth, who was like the son he never had, but he loved Claire to a point where I felt like I was competing with her for his attention. She also always made her famous, homemade hot chocolate with extra cinnamon and nutmeg when she visited, and Charlie was badly addicted. And do I mean badly. It came to a point where I suggested he go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

"Soon I think," Jacob replied. "Seth's been meaning to get his throwing arm back in shape before the game we have with another tribe, and Claire's been meaning to test out a new mix of spices to go with her drink, so you can expect them sometime this week or next week."

Charlie clapped his hands delightfully, like a small child. "Okay then. See you later, Bella. Oh, wait; don't forget to take your camera with you!" He breezed back into the living room, returning with the small digital thing and leaving as quickly as he had came

Jacob smiled triumphantly and, to get him back, I snapped a candid photo of his beautiful face. He blinked his eyes rapidly, rubbing them theatrically from the flash, and got up to put his plate in the sink. When I finished, and washed all of the dishes with the speed of a snail, he finally took my hand and led me outside to my truck. He opened the passenger door for me, and I got in without complaining, sulking slightly that I still had to come.

We drove along, passing by the La Push beaches that glowed slightly from the disappearing sun and into the woods to the group of Quileute homes that sprouted out from nowhere. I snapped away, avoiding conversation with Jacob while I worked. As the car drove down the road, Jacob cleared his throat. "I thought you might want to know that everyone is going to be there. Everyone."

It took me a moment to comprehend, and then I got it. "They're back from Canada?"

"Hmm hm," Jacob answered. The dread of seeing Paul, the angriest of the wolves, again made me uneasy, but it would be good to see Sam and Jared again. Maybe I could finally see the old Kim back. "Um, and Sam ordered Leah as Alpha to come too." He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

I groaned, naturally. "She's going to make the party a living hell."

He patted my hand, steering the car into a parking spot directly in front of Emily quaint little home. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "She's on her best behavior, as is Paul."

I could see lights coming from the backyard of the house, and they got brighter as I climbed out of my truck with my camera. I let out a sigh, and Jacob smiled, wrapping his arm around my waist and leading me to the side of the house. Scattered flower petals led the way to the large backyard, and I gasped at the sights I absorbed.

Without decorations, Emily's backyard had only two trees on opposite sides of a largely fenced-in garden. However, Claire had strung dozens of multicolored paper lanterns –all smartly shaped like the outline of a wolf– across the trees and tied several balloons to the branches. A large table was set up in one corner, and it was piled with dozens of wrapped boxes, while on another table sat a elaborately decorated cake that smelled amazing, even from a few yards away. Emily's own recipe, I supposed.

The Quileutes were scattered around the yard, and they didn't see us at first. I took a picture of the backyard with my wide lens, and the wolves immediately craned their necks up at the noise of my camera clicking away, spotting Jacob and me at the side of the gate. Loudly, so that perhaps the people a few blocks over could hear them, they let out a chorus of "Happy birthday!" I smiled, crushing myself next to Jacob and wondering if it would be okay for me to hide behind his massive frame.

Hugging me to his side, Jacob led me to a patio chair that was set up next to the back door. He sat down, pulling me onto his knee, as Claire made a few motions with her hands. The Quileutes understood, all of them going to the table loaded with gifts to fetch their presents. One by one, they stood in a line that looked more like a squiggly, and Claire pulled Seth, Embry, and Quil forward towards me.

"We saw this and immediately thought of you," Claire said sweetly, handing me a square shaped box wrapped with delicate brown foil paper.

"We had nothing to do with it!" Embry added with a smile, leaning down to give me a warm hug. Seth and Quil gave me a hug as well, and Seth tapped the box gently with his pointer finger.

"Open it up," he said encouragingly, and I obliged, ripping the paper off and gasping for the second time that night.

Directly in the middle of a bed of tissue paper was a small cellular phone, small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. It was a rich chocolate color, and on the back of the phone was a black stencil of a wolf howling at the moon. To my surprise, it buzzed suddenly, playing the song that I shared with Jacob, our special song. I peeked at the screen and the phone's screen announced that JAKE was calling me. I grinned, turning to see Jacob shutting his own phone with a smirk.

"Thanks, you guys," I said, giving them all another hug. "I love it so much. I hope you didn't go through any trouble…"

"Nonsense," Quil said with a smile. "We just had to wrestle with an middle-aged lady for the last one. Hey, if you look carefully at the bottom of the phone, you can see where she clawed her nails into it."

Claire smacked his arm. "Why can't you just say, 'You're welcome' like a normal person?" she asked, her tone only half-heartedly scolding.

They went off to the side of the line, and Emily, Jared, Sam, and Kim stepped forward. Emily handed me a large box wrapped in flimsy green paper, hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday.

As I accepted hugs from Sam and Jared, I couldn't help but comment on how much older Jared looked. "Did you grow?" I asked curiously.

"Yep," Jared replied, the familiar jokester grin appearing on his face. "Aging has finally caught up with me. I've only grown half-of-an-inch since yesterday, and I think I saw a gray hair when I was spiking it this morning."

Kim grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I think you look rather dashing."

"Course you do; you're getting old too!" He leaned down, pretending to bite her nose.

I forced a smile at their words, opening the box to reveal a dark gray trench coat that was decorated with lace designs and a lots of buttons. I stroked the fabric, my mind blank of what I should say.

"It's from Canada," Sam explained with a half-smile on his face. "Well, actually, France. But it was transferred to Canada, and Emily made me take like ten pictures of it before she told me to buy it for you." He glanced at Emily with loving eyes, and she returned them with a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you so much, you guys," I said, getting up to hug all of them once more. "I absolutely love all of my presents and I…" I was suddenly cut off by a throat clearing. All of us turned to see Paul and Leah standing on the sidelines, Leah actually managing a small smile.

"We got you something too, Bella," she said quietly.

"Really?" Sam stared at them suspiciously, his black eyes narrowing as he glanced from face to face. Both of their faces were perfect masks of innocence, and I looked shyly at the statuesque Leah.

"You didn't have too…"

"Well, it is your birthday," Paul replied, his usual angry tone smooth at the surface. He nudged Leah, and she ran off to the gate, disappearing around the side of the house. "She's getting it," he explained, and I exchanged a look with Jacob. This wouldn't be good…

"Here it is," Leah announced, walking back into the yard with her arm intertwined with my present…An elderly looking man with dark hair and familiar amber eyes, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. The man looked around at us, unrecognizable. I blinked, confused.

"We found Jake's grandfather, and brought him here to give you his blessing!" Leah crowed with false cheerfulness. Paul matched her expression with a forced smile of his own.

Jacob's face was suddenly grave, angry touched with bitterness. "How could you…" I thought I heard him mumble towards Leah and Paul, and Jacob's grandfather finally saw his grandson, with his arm wrapped around my waist. Jacob's grandfather blinked in confusion, peering at me with wrinkled eyes. Suddenly, he gasped, pulling his arm away from Leah and, with a shaking finger, pointed at his grandson with accusation in his eyes. It became clear to me why he was pointing, and I shrunk behind Jacob, willingly letting him push me behind his back.

"Jacob Black!" he exclaimed, starting towards us with a mad expression on his face. "Why, boy? Why?"

"Grandpa, don't make a scene…" Jacob started to say, but his grandfather interrupted him again.

"How could you disobey the Quileute tradition, and date a girl who is not your imprinted!" The words stung me as he said them, and I resisted the urge to cry.

And, just like that, the party got so much worse.

* * *

So, aren't you eager to see what comes next? (Or, if you read this already, you've been eager for a long, long time :P)

Tell me, what do you think is going to happen?

See you soon!

~Geneth


	3. Broken

Welcome to the official second chapter for **New Moon: Reversed Roles**! (Finally, right? :P)

I just want to thank you guys for your amazing support. I wasn't expecting to get such a high number of reviews for the first chapter, even though I know a lot of **Twilight: Reversed Roles** Author-Alerted me so they would know the next time I put something up on this site. But seriously, wow. The first time I looked in my email inbox, I went, "What the hell?! 68 messages?!" :D

So here, enjoy :)

~Geneth

PS I forgot to write this in the first message, so I'd better do it now before Stephenie Meyer files a law suit:  
**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the following Twilight characters, items, events, or locations.  
**Please also note that I am basically rewriting New Moon but with major changes in characters (like Edward, Jacob, and of course our new villains) and events that occur (you'll find out more about that later). In case the blurb kind of threw you off, I'm working on a reverse story of New Moon. I don't want to stray to far from the original book/series itself, so you might see the similar lines and sentences (like the Prologue was just basically a newly molded version of the Preface). I'm not stealing anything, for every word and phrase I say is really property of Stephenie Meyer.  
PPS This story has been Beta-Read by **sbsp92**.

* * *

Sam was the only wolf who stayed calm. The rest of the Quileutes were ether awestruck or glaring angrily at Leah and Paul. "Kim, Claire, Jacob…Please take Bella inside right now," he instructed.

Jacob grabbed me securely and started dragging me towards the screen door when Jacob's grandfather lashed out. "Don't you walk away from me, young man! Just wait until I tell your father!" He bounded forward, going strangely fast for a sixty-year-old man, and Jacob turned for a split-second, threw me towards Quil, and then ran halfway to meet his grandfather in the middle of the yard.

They collided together, making the sound of crashing boulders, and both of them somersaulted backwards, landing in deep crouches to the floor. Jacob growled furiously and his grandfather returned the growls with dark and angry snarls. Russet fur suddenly burst from Jacob's skin, his clothes disappearing into a pile of fabric on the floor, and the large wolf that stood in Jacob's place grinded his teeth together at the older man. But Jacob's grandfather was unfazed, growling back while his body vibrated maniacally. Suddenly, pale white fur burst from his skin and I gasped. Jacob's own grandfather was a wolf too! They charged towards each other again, this time the colliding sound they made even louder than before.

"Take me inside, please, Quil," I whimpered, and Quil scooped me up into his arms, running inside while Claire held the door open.

He kept walking until he got into Emily's enormous kitchen, and then he set me upright in one of the kitchen chairs. Kim sat across from me, her face grim as she took my hands, massaging the palms of them. Claire busily went around the kitchen, boiling water with one hand while she mixed a bunch of spices and herbs in a large mug. Within minutes, the comforting smell of her hot chocolate filled the air.

Quil sat on a bench on my right, shaking his head as he watched the battle from the other pack member's telepathy. "How could they do this to you?" he muttered to no one in particular, and I snapped my head towards him.

"What are you talking about, Quil?"

"Leah and Paul," he explained softly. "It's been known by all of the pack that Jacob's grandfather was a powerful wolf who tended to follow tradition to the books. He moved off the reservation years ago, before Jacob was even born."

A shiver went down my spine. "Are you saying they brought him here on purpose, to ruin my birthday?"

"It's possible," admitted Kim. "It seems…like so typical Leah and Paul…But it's also possible that they honestly didn't know and they did it because they thought it would make Jacob happy, and if Jacob's happy…"

"Then I'm happy…" I mumbled under my breath.

"I doubt the second one," volunteered Quil. "I was listening to them while you were opening your presents, and they kept asking each other if the other wanted to back out. And, currently, they feel only a little bit guilty."

I pulled my hands from Kim's, burying my head into them. "Do they hate me that much?" I asked, resisting the urge to break down into sobs.

Claire set a mug of her hot chocolate down on the table, and she put my arms around me reassuringly. "I'm sure they don't," she said quietly. "It's just been…difficult for them to deal with everything that's been happening. I'm sure they'll adjust…"

"That's what Jacob said a few months ago," I replied, warming my hands by the steam of my drink. "And they haven't adjusted. In fact, I think they've come to hate me more."

An awkward silence filled the kitchen, and I sipped carefully from my cup, watching Quil wince suddenly as he saw the details of the battle outside via his telepathy. "What's happening?"

"It's hard to tell who's winning," Quil said, tracing figure eights on the glass tabletop. "Jake's grandpa fights pretty well for an old man…Can't say I'm surprised though…"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"Well, when Jacob's grandpa still lived on the reservation, his name was Kemp, which means fighter. Billy told us that he was one of the fiercest fighters among the wolves, and anytime the pack ran into trouble, Kemp was the first man to attack the intruders, no matter if they were hidden allies or just innocent people who made the mistake of wandering into his line of fire."

"But why does he hate that I'm dating Jacob?" I challenged.

"I can answer that." We all looked up to see Seth standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his arms crossed against his chest and his face greatly troubled. "It's starting to get gruesome," he told us, glancing at me uncertainly, as if he expected me to burst into loud cries at his words, "and Sam wanted me to go inside before I got overexposed…Can I have some hot chocolate, Claire?"

She nodded, busying herself with fetching a mug and her drink, and I turned to Seth. "So, why does he hate that I'm dating his grandson?"

Seth furrowed his eyebrows, his forehead bringing them together so that they almost touched. "I think it has something to do with the reason why Kemp left the reservation several years ago. Billy once told the story to us because we were curious, and he never told it again after that. Come to think of it, he was depressed for the rest of the week after he spoke of it…"

Claire set a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of him, and he traced the rim with his thumb a few times before he spoke again. "Quil told you that Kemp was a strong fighter, right? Well, despite the fact that he was fierce and deadly loyal to the pack, for some reason, he was the only wolf without his imprinted traveled all over the continental United States, searching for the one girl who could make him complete. But, no matter how hard he tried, he could never find her, and the elders or the clouds never gave him hints. Once, it came to a point where he would open the phone book to a random page and go to those people's homes, hoping to feel that imprinting spark that lives in all of us.

"Then, one day, he met Ashia."

Seth took a sip from his cup, and Quil took over, pulling himself away from the fight outside to finally speak.

"Ashia and Kemp had been old sweethearts, and they bumped into each other somewhere in North Dakota. Kemp knew she wasn't the one who he was supposed to imprint on, but he decided to spend the day with her, to catch up. They went out for lunch, and Kemp remembered why they had once been sweethearts, and how he had fallen in love with her. Ashia traveled back with him to La Push, where they picked up their old relationship and found love in one another. When they got married, Ashia was twenty-two and Kemp was still forever eighteen, but they ignored it and made the most of their life together. Kemp finally revealed to Ashia who he truly was, and she actually took it calmly, with as much love and affection as any of us has to offer."

"They had their first son, Billy, a few months after they married," Seth continued. "And though Ashia was growing old, Kemp accepted this and tried to make the most of it. But, as Ashia and Billy both grew, Kemp found himself celebrating his wife and son's birthday, while his own never arrived on the calendar.

"But then, three years after they had married, Ashia invited her sister to come visit them from Maine. When Kemp went outside of the house to meet them, he suddenly felt this pull towards his sister-in-law, who was at least ten years younger than Ashia. He immediately knew what was happening, and he couldn't stop it."

"He imprinted on his sister-in-law?!" Claire gasped, sinking into the empty space next to Quil on the bench. "But how…how could he do that to Ashia?"

"It's nothing we can control, darling," Quil explained, squeezing her shoulders carefully. "Look at Leah and Sam."

"Ashia saw the whole thing happening, and she knew that it was time to let him go," Seth added. "She was such a brave woman, but it was clear to everyone how much Kemp had hurt her. She started fighting with Kemp, to the point where he finally announced they were filing for divorce."

"How old was Billy?" I questioned quietly.

"Billy was only five when his father gave his mother the divorce papers. He said once that he could never understand why his dad was breaking up with his mom in order to pursue his much younger aunt. At the time, he didn't know anything about werewolves and imprinting, and Ashia kept telling him that it was because Kemp was a rotten person."

"And then," Quil said softly, "two days after Kemp had given her the divorce papers, Ashia found her sister and killed her."

We all sat silently, absorbing the thought of Kemp's first love killing his one true love. "How could she do that?" I murmured. "Didn't she know he would turn to a killing machine if his true love died?"

"Oh, she knew. The reason why she did it was because she wanted to sacrifice her life to make her ex-husband's life a living nightmare. So, leaving her one and only son with the neighbors, Ashia fled the town, disappearing into the night. Only twelve hours after his ex-wife left La Push with blood on her hands, Kemp went after her, not even saying good-bye to Billy. Both of them changed their names, abandoned their old lives, and Ashia went into hiding while Kemp tracked her furiously."

"It's assumed by the elders that Kemp found her and eventually killed her, as is the rule if one person kills a wolf's object of affection. He's still aging, as you can see, because he met his imprinted one already, and there's not another one in this lifetime. And, because of this, Kemp's been banned from the reservation for years. How Leah and Paul managed to get him on, I will never know and never understand…" Seth chewed his bottom lip.

Quil closed his eyes, reentering the battle scene. "I think they're done, Bella," he said, getting up from the bench. A few seconds after he got up, Embry entered the back door supporting a worn-looking, half-naked Jacob with one arm. How they managed to find him pants were beyond me, but I didn't care at this point.

"Jacob!" I choked out as I jumped up from my chair, running over to help Embry get him into Emily's living room. We set him down on the sofa, and he put his head back on a pillow, a bead of sweat along his brow. "Jacob, say something," I pleaded.

"If you think this is bad," he panted, "wait till you see the other guy." I let out a breathless laugh, and proceeded to stroke his face with my hand. He groaned as my skin made contact with his own flaming one, and winced when I went over a large bite mark on the side of his neck. "Most grandfather's have dentures. Mine has teeth like a vampire…" Jacob mumbled feverishly.

Claire entered the room, thrusting a bowl full of water and rags towards me. "I'm going to get my remedies from my room. Put two rags over his heart right now, and clean him up please. I am not working on a boy who's practically swimming in his own sweat." And with that, she sprinted out of the room.

I wrung out two rags, folding them carefully and laying directly over Jacob's heart. Jacob let out a sigh as it touched his skin, and I gently caressed his face. "Did he do any more damage to you?" I asked, taking another rag and slowly mopping up the bite wound on his neck.

"I don't think so. He went down after a while, and then I started chasing down Leah and Paul. Sam and Jared had to hold me down before I finally stopped." He licked his lips as I slowly went over them with another cloth. "Sam went to look for them now. They're not responding to any telepathy, and they won't come out from wherever they're hiding. They're such asses…Bringing my hateful grandfather to my girlfriend's birthday party. I'm sorry they ruined it, Bella…"

"It's okay; I understand," I whispered as I went over the bleeding wound again. It was already slowly healing, and with every time I wiped it, the skin was turning softer and to a healthy baby pink color.

Claire flew into the room, a single plastic bag in her hand. She took out a strange, lime green herb that smelled positively foul, and rubbed the leaves together, spitting lightly in the center and putting it to Jacob's neck. He groaned again, and she wiped the herb up and down the wound, pulling it away with a satisfied expression on her face.

Have you ever seen skin heal at the speed it takes most people to run? It's creepy, but also incredibly stunning. Watching Jacob's skin hurry to heal over the bite marks was so amazing, I was tempted to ask Claire to rub the herb on a paper cut I received earlier on that day.

Jacob got up from the sofa, stretching as if he had just woken up from a nap, and got to his feet. "I should drive you back to Charlie's now," he said, gesturing towards the clock that read nine-thirty. In a half hour, Charlie would be rounding up his cop buddies and going hunting for Jacob. I nodded, getting up from my seat on the coffee table and heading towards the door with him. Claire grabbed my arm suddenly, and I turned to look at her.

"Don't forget your presents, Bella," she said with false enthusiasm.

"I'll get them," Jacob volunteered as he walked to the screen door and disappeared back into the yard.

Kim entered a few seconds the room a few seconds after Jacob left, helping Jared into an armchair where he could relax. "Damn it, Jared; you know you're getting old, and yet you still try and tackle Paul…" Kim dipped a spare rag into the bowl, and proceeded to wipe leftover mud off her boyfriend's face.

"I didn't know I had gotten that old…It's a shame he got away…" Jared muttered as he took another rag and started to mop up the dirt on his arm.

"How bad is it? I mean, between Leah and Paul and the rest of the pack?" I asked softly.

"Pretty bad," Jared admitted, not looking up from his cleaning. "They're responding to telepathy now, but they're not sharing where they are. Paul admitted that they did it on purpose, but Leah said it was for your own good. Sam is considering sending them to live with another tribe from now on, or at least until they adjust to you. Jake's strangely calm about all of this; I would've wrung their necks and went after them if they had messed with Kim."

Kim smiled lightly as she cleaned off a piece of grime trapped on the side of Jared's face, and I turned away, feeling like I might cry again. Luckily, Jacob reentered, now wearing a large shirt he probably borrowed from Sam, with both of the present boxes in one hand, and my camera in another.

"Hey, Jared, thanks for having my back out there," he said, patting Jared's one clean shoulder.

"No problem, Jake. Soon as we find them, they're going to get what they deserve." Jared's words echoed through my mind, and I mentally shuddered.

Claire gave me a hug as we were headed out the door, and whispered good night before she closed the door behind us. I walked silently alongside Jacob, and when he opened the passenger's side door for me, I got in without saying anything. He handed my presents, closing my door and getting to the other side.

We drove along, unsure what to say until we got to the driveway of Charlie's house. Jacob killed the engine, and we sat in the car, listening to the sound of our breathing.

"Jacob, please say something," I whispered, turning to see his amber eyes staring straight ahead, blankly looking at the tree in my neighbor's yard.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "What do you want me to say, Bella?"

"Say…say that you forgive me for getting you hurt."

"You didn't get me hurt; the wolf-traitors did. None of this is your fault, Bella. You can't take all of the blame."

I looked down at my hands, watching them grip the passenger's seat tighter as he spoke. "I can," I said quietly. "If it wasn't for me, Leah and Paul wouldn't feel the need to find your grandfather and put him up against you. If I wasn't with you, you wouldn't be injured right now…" Great, now I was blathering.

Jacob put his pointer finger to my lips, and I silenced. "Don't say stuff like that, Bella," he said tiredly but sternly. "I'm dating you, whether they like it or not. Besides, I was hurt, not any normal human being. You can't put the weight of the world on your shoulders, when there are plenty of other people who should hold it for you. Okay?"

I nodded, and the clock on the dashboard beeped. Ten o'clock pm exactly. "Are you going to stay tonight?"

He looked down, suddenly interested in the steering wheel. "I don't know if I should, Bella…It's been a rough night…"

"Please; for my birthday?" I asked hopefully.

"Whatever happened to the Bella who wanted me to ignore her birthday completely?" His tone was light now, almost teasing, and I managed a smile.

"She's hiding somewhere…But she'd still like it if her Jacob would come visit her."

"Great, now we're talking in third person," Jacob laughed, rolling his eyes. In a split second, he was out of the car, the driver's door slamming behind him, and he was opening my door for me, taking the presents from my hand and helping me out of my truck. As I landed on the ground, I realized how close he was. "Happy birthday, Bella," he breathed as his lips met mine.

As we kissed, I held the presents to the side of my body, not wanting to squish them with the pressure from my body and Jacob's larger one. I wrapped my spare arm around his neck, pulling him closer as we kissed. Jacob held the position for a good minute before he pulled away, smirking his familiar amused grin and sprinting around the side of the house.

The game was still on as I entered the house, probably in overtime, and I tried to creep carefully past the living room to the stairs, but was caught by my dad calling out for me. Sighing, I entered the dimly lit room, finding my dad stretched out on the couch.

"Hey Bella," he yawned. "How was it?"

"Pretty nice," I admitted. "Claire is as good of a decorator as she is a chef." I pressed a button on my camera to pull up my pictures, and handed it to my father, showing him the party scene in the backyard.

He let out a low whistle as he saw it, and shrugged. "Can't say I'm surprised though, Bella. You have to admit, the little girl's got skills…So, what did they get you?"

"Emily, Sam, Jared, and Kim got me a coat imported from France…I mean Canada, and Quil, Claire, Seth, and Jacob got me a cell phone." I opened the small box to show him, and he fingered the small contraption.

"This looks expensive," he commented, practically reading my mind, and I blushed, deciding not to say anything.

"I'm uh…I'm going to call it a night," I stammered, taking the phone back from my father and tucking it safely away in its box. "G'night, Dad."

"Night, Bella," he said, turning back to the television as the game came back on.

I sprinted up the stairs, opening the door to my room and closing it behind me. Jacob was already there, sitting cross-legged on my bed while he buried his nose into the book I had left on my dresser next to my bed. It was the second book in this series written by a New York Times bestseller author, and though I hadn't read the first one, I borrowed them to keep Jacob amused whenever he was in my room. I raised an eyebrow, and he looked up, folding the page to mark his part.

"You are in love with that series," I chuckled as I set the presents down on my desk.

"I am not," he retorted, crossing his arms and making a fake scowling face. "It's not my fault the dude's name is Jacob. He's much more interesting that this Eddie character."

I picked up my pajamas from the side of my bed. "Fine, you can read while I get changed. But no more for the rest of the night," I chided in a motherly tone.

Jacob rolled his eyes, reopening the large book. "Yes, Mama Bella," he replied as he turned back to his reading.

I took my clothing to the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth rapidly and scrubbed my face to remove all of the dirt I could. I pulled on my new pajamas, a jade green top and brown sweatpants that shockingly matched. I had started wearing actual pajama sets for days when Jacob slept over, so I wouldn't end up looking sloppy in a holey sweats and a faded tee. As I skipped back to my room, I thought I heard vibrating coming from my desk. Who was calling me this late at night?

I opened the door, finding Jacob in the exact same position but on a different page in his book. "Someone's been texting you," he said innocently, turning a page. I picked up my phone, and indeed, it announced that I had a text. I clicked on the center button to open it, and found that typed in light red letters across the screen were the words…

**You're only gone for five minutes, and I already miss you.**

**Happy Birthday, my Bella. I love you**.

I didn't need to look at the caller to see who it was, and I turned back to my bed to find Jacob grinning scandalously, closing his book and setting in down on my nightstand. "I love you too," I murmured, knowing he could still hear my soft words.

He held his arms open, and I went into his arms, snuggling deep into his frame. "I got you something else," he said gently, "and I know for a fact you're going to like this one." He leaned over, turning the radio on my alarm clock on. After fiddling with the old-fashioned knob, he settled on a channel and sat back, stroking my hair as I rested my head on his chest.

"What…?"

"Shh, you'll see…"

The song on the radio ended, and the DJ, a soft-spoken woman who spoke like she was someone's therapist, announced she had a song request. "This one is from eighteen-year-old Jacob over in Forks, Washington," she said, and I looked at him with shock in my eyes. He put a finger to his lips as the DJ kept speaking. "Jakey-boy is giving this shout-out to his girlfriend, and says to wish her a happy birthday, and that he loves her so much. Ah, young love…Jake's girlfriend, hold on to him tight; I have a feeling that he's a keeper…" Her voice faded, and in its place was our song.

"Aww, Jacob," I sighed, pulling myself upright so that I could give him a kiss on his cheek.

But, Jacob got up to meet me, turning his head so I kissed his lips instead of his cheek. I did an awkward flinch, but kissed him back almost immediately. He crushed me against his body, and I responded eagerly, wrapping my arms around his neck once more and pulling myself up to him. His lips parted slightly as we embraced, and I thought I felt a sense of urgency in his taste, as if we had so little time left together for the strangest reason. Why was he so urgent and what the hell was this reminding me of?

Jacob pulled away, letting out a yawn and lying back onto my pillow. "I think we should get some sleep, Bella. Another school day tomorrow, and we have that History final…"

"Thanks for reminding me," I grumbled, plopping myself next to him and snuggling close to his warm body. "G'night, Jacob."

"Night."

And, as I slowly started to drift to sleep, I realized what his kiss had reminded me of. When we were departing ways during the wrath of the huntress, Syrah, Jacob had done an identical kiss, one that said we might never see each other again.

...Oh dear God, what had I done?

* * *

Dun. Dun. DUN!

Hehe, you know I love throwing in little cliffhangers to taunt you :P

Reviews are what keep me going. The more I can get in a period of time, the more motivated I feel to submit another one for all of you to read (It's a natural fact for all writers; positive reinvorcement is what keeps them going. Criticism is what gets them editing. Flames is what gets them to stop writing. So don't be a bad person, and don't bring a writer down!)

If you've already read New Moon, you know what's coming up, right? Exit Jacob Black, enter Edward Cullen! :D Therefore, the next chapter will be out on **HALLOWEEN!** Cool, huh? :)

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

~Geneth

PS Please vote for **Twilight: Reversed Roles** for Best Werewolf Tale over at The Moonlight Awards site and Best Alternate Universe over at The Sparkle Awards site...  
themoonlightawards [dot] yolasite [dot] com/vote [dot] php  
thesparkleawards [dot] webs [dot] com/vote [dot] htm

Thanks a million, guys :)


	4. The End

**Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!  
**

Like most little children, I like to dress up on Halloween (FYI, I don't like trick-or-treating...It makes me feel weird to ring the doorbell with single-digit-aged children and chorus with them..."HAPPER HALLOWEENERS!" I have my dignity! My friends, on the other hand, not so much...) So, because of my short stature, I'm going as Alice Cullen. Unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't have blond hair and refuses to wear a wig, so I am Jasper-less. On the other hand, my boyfriend does indeed have brown hair and did offer to be Edward, but alas, I refused because, quite frankly, I don't like incest. There. I've said it. Now, for all of you writers who do write the EdwardxAlice types of stories...Please don't. It's scary.

Okay, I've gone off on a tangent enough for today. Without further adieu, my readers, I give you...**Chapter Three: The Breakup Chapter.**

~Geneth

PS An unexpected twist emerges from within. Approach with caution, because it is quite shocking :)  
PPS Chapter has been beta-read by **sbsp92** (Thanks for putting up with me, girlie :P)

* * *

When I woke up, the first thing I felt was regret. My mind still thought about Jacob's kiss yesterday, and I wondered if I should question him about it. Most likely not…He would fake innocence until I eventually dropped the subject. Jacob was stretching on the floor as I got out of bed, and he leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss before he sprinted home to get ready for school. But, again, the kiss was sad, as if he was never going to return to pick me up. As he vaulted out the window, waving to me before he jumped over the neighbor's fence, I watched him, biting my lip to prevent any unwanted tears. What was going to happen?

I washed up and got dressed slowly, heading downstairs to eat alone while Charlie was at work. I half-expected the doorbell to not ring that morning, but sure enough, Jacob rang it at his usual time and I opened it for him. He smiled at me, helping himself to an apple from the kitchen table, but something was wrong in his face. The glorious amber eyes I loved to admire were troubled, hiding something deep within them.

We took Jacob's motorcycle to school, something we did occasionally, but I found reason in why he choose to ride his bike today. I'm willing to bet a hundred dollars he didn't want to have to make awkward conversation with me in the car. When we pulled into the lot, I was surprised to see most of the usual Quileute spots empty. The only occupied space was Seth's tan motorcycle, and only Seth and Claire sat waiting for us on it. I started towards Claire as soon as we were parked, thinking to vent my thoughts to one of my few girlfriends, but the bell rang just as I was within a few feet of her. She started walking off alone, and I nudged Jacob.

"I'm going to walk Claire to her first class…Okay?"

Ordinarily, Jacob would've volunteered to come with me. Instead, today he shrugged. "Sure, Bella. See you later." And, just like that, he disappeared into the mob of people.

I stared after him with my mouth gaping open for so long, I nearly forgot about Claire. I spun around, just in time to see Seth leading her towards the freshman building. Damn it, I lost my chance.

I hurried to first period, and slipped into my seat next to Jacob, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He was absorbed in his History notes, squeezing in some last minute studying, and I sighed with relief. That was a legitimate reason why he wouldn't come to walk with me; he wanted to put in some more studying time before the test after lunch. He looked up suddenly, and I quickly smiled at him. He returned the simper, but went back to his notes almost immediately.

Class ended sometime later, and as I walked to my next class with Jacob, I asked him again where everyone was. "Sam needed Quil and Embry's help bringing Leah and Paul up to Canada. They still don't think they did anything wrong, so they're not going down without a fight. The elders didn't want Seth to miss school, since he is the youngest, and Emily insisted that Claire go as well." _Not going down without a fight…_The words echoed in my mind, and I shuddered briefly.

Lunch finally came around, and after lasting most of the day with Jacob ether studying or staring blankly into space and not even talking to me, I was ready for a break. After we bought our lunch and sat down at the table, I couldn't help but notice how quiet Seth and Claire were. Up close, I noticed that Seth looked tired, with bags underneath his dark eyes and his usual huge grin missing from his face. Claire also looked worn, and she was gingerly reading her big book of herbal remedies instead of speaking.

We ate in silence, the occasional shuffling of pages and notes from ether side of the table. Seth cleared his plate and put his head down, snoring quietly almost instantly. Seconds later, he sneezed loudly, startling himself awake

"Seth, you all right?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." He yawned loudly, taking a napkin and blowing his nose. "Sam made me stay up until two in the morning looking for Leah, and when I did get home, I found her hiding underneath my bed." He scratched his shaggy hair with one hand, taking a drowsy sip of his water with the other. "Hey, wake me up when the bell rings, okay?" Before I could even reply or ask him another question, he closed his eyes and drifted off again.

I tried Claire next. "So, Quil went up to Canada?"

She nodded, turning a page without looking at me.

"When did he leave?"

"This morning." No kidding.

"Do you miss him?"

"Course." Stupid question, stupid answer...

"What happened after I left?"

Silence. Finally, Claire replied. "We went all over the reservation looking for Paul and Leah. Emily made me stop searching at twelve, but I stayed up until two listening to them speak from outside."

"So why do you still have to go to school?"

"Emily says so." This was going nowhere.

I didn't bother with Jacob, knowing it would be like trying to make a brick wall move, and I spend the rest of the lunch picking at my untouched food, trying to tell myself that it probably wasn't about me…It was about Paul, Leah, and Kemp…or whatever his name was.

Quil was right; the History final was so easy, I finished in the first fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, that meant I had to stew in my own thoughts of horror for the remaining half hour for the test. I peeked at Jacob, hoping for a distraction, but found him getting to his feet and talking in an inaudible husky voice to the teacher. After they had a conversation, mostly with him smiling pleasantly to her and she with a flustered expression, he handed his test to her and left the room, carrying his bag and a hallway pass with him. I watched the door close behind him, feeling a pang of sadness, and oddly, a bit of jealousy towards the teacher. She had gotten more genuine smiles out of him than I had gotten out of the whole day.

I walked to my next period for Advanced Mathematics alone, for the first time since the beginning of the year. I considered catching up with the Welcoming Committee, particularly Angela because she was in my next class, but decided it would be best to collect my thoughts alone. When I entered the classroom, I scanned the room, searching for Jacob's face and coming up empty. I slid into my seat with a feeling of dread in my stomach. But, as the final bell rang and the teacher got up to write on the blackboard, the door swung open and my heart leapt.

Unfortunately, but also fortunately, it was Quil, looking just as tired as Seth had been. He lazily handed a piece of paper covered almost completely with tiny lettering to the teacher, who scowled at him and motioned for him to take his seat behind me. I gave him a small wave as he passed me, and he smiled tiredly back.

I was so tempted to pass him a note, or twist around in my seat to ask him the billions of questions I had, but the teacher watched Quil like a hawk throughout the lesson, as if he assumed that Quil only came to school to cause trouble. Finally, class ended, and I quickly cleaned up my books and got to my feet, hurrying after Quil as he swiftly left the room.

"Quil! Quil!"

He immediately slowed for me, a natural friendliness about him that I've always loved. "Oh, hey, Bells. What's wrong? You look upset."

I wiped my face clean, replacing my emotions with a mask of calmness. "Jacob left in the middle of our History final, and he wasn't in class just now. Where did he go, and how did you get here?"

"We had to swap for a little while," he explained, holding open a stairway door for me and ushering me up the crowded steps. "Jake's faster than I am, so when Sam passed by the school, he said we could switch. I'm more than happy to relieve my duties; I'm beat. I feel bad for Seth though; he had to go too, even though he didn't get any sleep."

"Well, only one more class left," I said with false cheerfulness.

"Yeah, but that means I only get fifty minutes of sleep," groaned Quil. "After school, we have to lea…I mean we have to make sure Paul and Leah made it to the Kitcisakiiks safely."

Quil had stumbled over a word, I was absolutely certain of it. But I couldn't figure out what the rest of the word was. Have to lead? Have to leap? What could it mean? But, then again, I had gotten more information of Quil than I had out of Seth, Claire, and Jacob combined.

Class flew by, and I didn't try to question Quil any further, in case his mental telepathy suddenly let a signal out to Jacob, wherever he was, that he was spilling the beans to me. When the last bell finally rang, Quil walked me outside, to where an innocent-looking Jacob sat on his motorcycle, patiently waiting for me. To the naked eye, he would seem perfectly the same, as if nothing had changed, but to me, I could see how his shirt had new stains along the front, and how the hole in the bottom of his jeans had widened.

Smiling casually, as if I suspected nothing, I leaned in to give him a kiss on his cheek. "Where did you go during History? Did you ditch school again?" I asked playfully.

Ether Jacob was unaware of my displaced tone, or he was choosing to ignore it, for he chuckled in response, letting me peck his smooth cheek. "Actually, I did skip. It was fun; you should do it more often, Bella," he added in a teasing tone.

Quil had gone silent, glancing around the grounds while Jacob and I talked. The second Claire appeared, he hurried to her, pulling her aside. At first, I thought they were embracing or something, but instead I saw him talking to her, and say something that makes her face fall. Claire nodded severely and they started towards us. What did he say?

"We should get heading home," Jacob said suddenly.

"Oh, okay. Are you going to stay for dinner tonight?"

Jacob always came by, and the answer he gave me seemed so out of place. "Not sure yet. I'll call you on your phone if I stop by." Was that the real reason why he purchased the phone for me?

Quil and Claire approached us. Claire's face was wiped clean of emotion, all signs of her shaken face and sad eyes completely lost in a mask of coolness. Jacob explained how he was going to take me home before driving back to the reservation, and the two nodded in unison, as if understanding a hidden message in his words.

"Good bye, Bells," Quil said, his voice somehow too sincere for a farewell for the day. He leans forward, wrapping me into his large frame before weakly saluting me and heading off towards Seth's abandoned bike.

Claire also gave me a hug, something she normally didn't do on a school day when we were all heading home. "Be safe, Bella," she whispered before she released me and hurried towards Quil. They drove off, faces and emotions concealed under their helmets.

We approached the house in silence, the sound of the motorcycle revving replacing whatever conversation we could had have. I climbed off, hitching my bag higher up on my shoulder and staring at Jacob, waiting for him to say something. He lifted his helmet off, and instead of saying something comforting, he leaned in and gave me another one of his urgent kisses. I tried to enjoy it, but honest curiosity about the strange behaviors in all of my supposed friends kept eating on my insides.

I stayed in my room for maybe three hours, doing homework and playing on my laptop, trying to find something to keep myself occupied while I waited from some sort of life form to appear downstairs. Finally, someone did, but it turned out to be my father, home from work early because of an upcoming baseball game between Charlie's favorite team and their arch rivals. We ate dinner in front of the television, and the only conversation we had was me asking Charlie to pass the napkins.

After spending another hour and a half in my room, I heard the doorbell ring. Charlie opened the door, speaking to the husky, velvety voice of Jacob, and then the door closed. Judging by the footsteps, Jacob had gone into my living room.

I started towards the door, eager to go downstairs, but hesitated, remembering the new Jacob that awaited me. What was bothering him, and possibly the rest of the Quileutes and wolf-girls, was beyond me but, much like Jacob's kisses, I felt like time was slowly running out. Soon, the last grains of sand would fall to the bottom of the hourglass, and I would have to hold tight to find out what was coming. But what could I do to preserve the time that all of us spent together? I looked to my bed, seeing that on my nightstand was my digital camera, the tiny USB, with lots of memory to hold my pictures, completely empty next to it. Hmmm…

Creeping as quietly as I could, I came down the steps, and crawled on my hands and knees to the living room. Charlie was in the only armchair facing me, and his eyes were glued to the screen like they normally were. Jacob was watching the television as well, and I wasn't sure if he had heard me. His werewolf senses made it possible for him to, but then again, his newfound focus on the flat screen might have distracted him.

I tapped a button on my camera, the instruction manual at my feet. Carefully, I set my settings to a setting called, "Black & White", and slowly crawled to the sofa. At the count of three, I jumped at an odd angle onto the couch, aiming the camera at Jacob's face and clicking away. I landed on the couch with my feet in Jacob's lap, and he looked up, genuinely surprised.

I smiled innocently to him. "What, I can't take pictures of my handsome boyfriend?"

He pouted, and replied in a mocking, childish tone, "No! I don't wanna…" He tried to take camera, and he could've used his usual forces to snatch it from me, but I ducked, hiding under a pile of sofa pillows. I felt Jacob's hand on my side, suddenly tickling me with his talented fingers, and I emitted a soft shriek. For the first time that day, I felt like I had my Jacob back, and I cherished that moment.

Suddenly, Charlie jumped to his feet, cheering as the player scored a homerun or touchdown or whatever it was called. I peeked out from under my pillow protection, aiming my camera at my father's victory face and clicking the camera. Like a bloodhound, he somehow heard the camera's silent click and he turned to me.

"Bella!" he exclaimed, not only surprised by the position Jacob had me in, but also at the fact that I had taken pictures of him. Before I could explain, Jacob took the camera from my hands and I yelped, sitting up from under the pillows and trying to grab it back from Jacob's hands.

The rest of the blissful hour was spent snapping pictures of furniture and of each other. While the game was on commercial, Charlie suggested that we take freeze-frame photos of us jumping off something. He regretted the suggestion later, because at around nine forty-five at night, our neighbors called, asking why his daughter and her boyfriend were leaping in quirky poses off the back porch.

But, at the stroke of ten, in a fashion similar to Cinderella, Jacob fell out of his normality and transformed back into the distant, mysterious boy who had gone to school with me in the morning. "I have to go," he said blandly, handing me my camera.

"Are you really leaving for the night, or are you going to come back?" I asked in a whisper.

"For the night," he said, the touch of sadness still there but muffled somehow, like he was suppressing it. Lightly, he leaned in and began to make a trail of gentle kisses from my collarbone up to my face, landing the last one on my lips. I wanted to hold it there, keeping the perfect picture of how our lives should've been, but he pulled away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he murmured gently before disappearing around the side of the house. Seconds later, the sounds of his motorcycle revving away convinced me to go inside.

"Where'd Jake go?"

"Had to go home," I said bluntly. "Night, Dad."

"Oh, g'night, Bella…" The crack of the something hitting a ball cut my father off from his parting words, and I sighed and headed to my room.

Following the manual again, I hooked my camera up to my laptop, tapping a few buttons and uploading the pictures onto a file onto my USB. The process was slow, so I washed up and got into my ratty pajamas, knowing Jacob wouldn't see me tonight. When I returned to my room, and turned on the screen of my computer, I nearly fell backwards in my chair with wonder.

The first uploaded picture in the preview screen was taken on the first day of my camera, and it was of Jacob in the kitchen during dinner. He looked almost twice as gorgeous as he did in real life, his beauty frozen on my computer screen. His dark amber eyes were full of warmth, the type of loving look that I yearned for today during school and only briefly experienced just now, and the glare of the kitchen light made his smile brighter than the sun.

The next picture was of Emily's backyard, and the lovely decorations that were draped all over. The proceeding ones were various pictures of the Quileutes and me during present time, taken sometime I couldn't remember. Jacob must've taken my camera and given it to one of the Quileutes, for there were pictures of me giving big hugs to all of the wolves and wolf-girls.

After deleting a bunch of blurry pictures taken during my awkward leap onto the couch, I found the perfect candid shot of Jacob. Unfortunately, he looked so lifeless, the exact opposite of his first warm picture. His expression was sober, to the point where it was clear that something was paining him. The Black & White special effect made it worse, making it seem like he was modeling for a Goth magazine.

But his eyes scared me more than anything I had seen. The reason? It was a mixture of frozen depression and desperation, clouded over with a thin layer of gladness. Had Jacob been merely acting, like so, during our photo shoot, or had it been genuine happiness?

Charlie in mid-victory dance was hilarious, and I felt a little better. Our furniture pictures, in Sepia or in focus on a single color in the room, were nice, but when I got to the freeze-frames, I couldn't help but feel that bit of longing yet again. There were a few of me looking up at the sky as I fell off the deck, all dramatic and theatrical, but they were nothing compared to the shots of Jacob doing a karate kick or a Superman pose in mid-jump.

I opened the two candid shots of Jacob in separate windows, putting them side by side using one of my camera's special programs. The first one, full of warmth, and the second, where he seemed too dead to even be living. The images startled me yet again, the contrast between what it meant to be in love or falling apart, and I shut down my computer, stewing in the darkness until I felt a little drowsy.

I didn't sleep, half-expecting Jacob to tap on my window and let himself in. But he didn't. I tried to play some music to lure me to sleep, but the second I realized that I was on the radio station where Jacob had made his song request, I turned it off and just stared at my ceiling, eventually drifting away to a dreamless state.

The day followed in the lifeless pattern it had before, with me getting ready and driving to school slowly, Jacob-less. He hadn't even come to pick me up, to see if I was okay. As I pulled into my usual parking spot, I noticed with dread that Jacob was the only Quileute in the lot, hiding underneath a few trees as the light drizzle rained down onto the ground. He had no motorcycle next to him, not even his father's old car. Had he walked to school?

He walked briskly to me, standing by my window before I even got a chance to get out. He mouthed something that I couldn't hear through the thick glass of the car window, and I raised an eyebrow at him. After a silent sigh, he opened the driver's door, pushing me over to the passenger's side as the bell rang. I started to get out, but he slammed the door shut and pulled me down, causing me to be stuck between the passenger's seat and the dashboard.

"Jacob, what the hell?!" I whispered harshly.

"Shh! Don't move, and stay down!" he replied, crouching between the steering wheel and the seat. The final bell rang, and my fingers itched towards the door handle, but Jacob leaned forward and awkwardly wrapped my hands in his. The warmth radiating off them was pleasant in a way, and I stilled. "Remember how I told you how you needed to skip school more often?" Jacob asked.

I nodded dumbly, and then his words sank in. "Are we…Are we skipping today?"

He smiled his usual warm smile, but it felt forced, especially since it didn't reach his amber eyes. "I think we need a day off. Besides, I have to talk to you." As he said that sentence, his face formed a grimace for the slightest second before fading into a mask of blankness.

We sat still for five minutes. Finally, Jacob eased his hands off mine and slowly opened the driver's door, stretching his legs out and landing easily on the pavement. He came around the side and cradled me down, putting his arms under my legs and supporting my neck.

"Ready?" Before I could reply, he closed my truck's door and started running out of the lot, his feet making no sound on the sidewalk. He must've been going pretty fast, for the world zoomed past us and not one person got a good glance at the running blur that was Jacob and me. Jacob braked to a sudden stop, using his worn-out sneakers as his guide, and hoisted me onto the ground. I looked around, finding us in the forest that was about a block or two away from Charlie's house. We sat down on a large tree root, staring at anything but each other. After some time, Jacob said the one sentence that emotionally killed me.

"Bella, we're leaving."

I turned to him, watching his eyes study a spot above my head. "You're leaving?" He didn't respond, and I got to my feet. "Okay then, I'll come with you."

"No, you won't." His rejection stung, and I stared at him, shocked. "You can't come, Bella, because…because I'm going hunting for my imprint."

Again, I felt every word drip with venom into my heart. "You're…you're going to look for your imprint? B-b-but…I don't understand. Why are you suddenly going?" He shot me a look, and realization sank in. "Your grandfather talked to the elders about how you and I can never be together…didn't he?"

"Yes. He convinced them that the reason why I haven't imprinted yet is because you're holding me back." The emotionless way he said it made it seem even more painful. "So," Jacob continued, "I'm going to be moving out of Forks and relocating with the rest of the wolves who haven't imprinted."

"Seth and Embry," I murmured and he nodded again. "But what about the rest of the Quileutes? They'll still be here, right?"

"No, everyone's leaving. The imprinted wolves are all relocating to Canada. They're going to live with the Kitcisakiiks."

"But what about Kim, and Claire? They have lives here, with their own families."

"That's none of your concern, Bella," he replied harshly, and I shuddered at his tone. And then, in a softer tone, he added, "Claire lives with Emily now, so it's not a problem, and Kim's parents don't mind…"

I searched for a reason for why he should stay in my mind, and found one triumphantly. "But in Phoenix, you promised you would stay. You promised you wouldn't leave me here, alone. So now, you're backing out of your commitment?"

"I said I would stay unless you needed me to leave."

"And I don't need you to leave now!"

"Yes, you do. We both know that sooner or later, I'm going to find another girl, and then what, Bella? I'll have to leave you anyways. Let it be now, instead of later. Besides, we don't need each other anymore."

I looked him right in the eye. "You…don't need me anymore?"

He stared right back. "No, Bella. I don't." A flash of emotion flickered in his eyes, and I thought I understood it. Was it…denial? Or honesty? "I don't belong in your life, Bella, and this is only the best for you. You were going to get hurt anyways." He was on his feet now, turning to leave.

I grabbed his hand, and for a second, I thought I felt him squeeze mine. "Jacob," I whispered, "please don't do this. Please don't leave me, Jacob. I…I love…" I couldn't choke out the last word, and instead bit my lip to prevent a sob.

He twisted his body around, tilting my chin up. "I'm sorry, Bella," he said, genuine sadness returning to his voice, "but this is for the best." He leaned forward, giving me a single kiss on my forehead, and then another on the tip of my nose. "Take care, Bella," he whispered, pressing our foreheads together so that I could see the intensity glowing in his eyes. And then, gently brushing my hands free from his, he disappeared into the trees, the rising fog vanishing him before my very eyes.

I sank to my knees, my jeans immediately drenched by the moisture of the forest floor. The light drizzle seemed to absorb my mood, and I curled up in a fetal position, staring at the fog that had consumed my Jacob, my love. The crunch of paper in my jacket startled me, and I dug my hands into the pockets, thinking of throwing it into the darkness so I could sink into depression in piece.

In my pocket was an old receipt, and a small square of paper, with my name written in tiny handwriting on the front. I had worn this jacket yesterday, and Claire had given me a hug around my body…With shaking hands and numb fingers, I unwrapped it. Her familiar handwriting greeted me.

**Bella,**

**He didn't want us to stay; he knew it was going to be too hard for us to say goodbye. We didn't want to leave you, but Kemp insisted. If half of the pack is gone, what's the point of the rest of us sticking around…right? **

**But, he fought for you, Bella. He tried to convince the elders otherwise, but they wouldn't sway. He loved you, Bella, to the point where he offered to be relived of his duties as a pack member in order to stay with you in Forks. He only wishes for you to live a normal life, even though we all know that it's not possible. So, for now, it will be like all of us never existed in your life. But, we'll try to come back, even if we are gone at the moment.**

**He loves you still. And we love you too.**

**We're sorry.**

**-C/Q/S**

I threw the paper into the woods, watching the drizzle ruin it and cause the ink to smear. The paper represented my life now: Ruined, unreadable. I could never live my ordinary life again, knowing that he would end up with his perfect match while I sank deeper into the darkness. How could he do this to me? How could they all do this to me?

Somehow, I fell into a silent state, daydreaming and unaware of everything moving around me. The day passed, and I watched as darkness slowly surrounded me, watching all that I love disappear with the light. The moon suddenly stood in the sky, and I hid from the utter brightness of the full moon. The moon did little to warm me, and I shivered in my thin coat, rubbing myself against the tree root for little warmth. A wolf howled in the distance, and I wanted to scream, "SHUT UP!" to it, but I knew that it wasn't any of the wolves I knew, let alone the wolf-girls imitating them. How could I have trusted them, and then watched that trust burn into the abyss along with all of the feelings I had towards them?

I heard a faint sound, one that sounded an awful lot like my name, but I ignored it, shutting my eyes and willing them to stop. I heard the sound of someone sniffing, almost like a dog, and a few more rustles in my direction. A twig broke as someone stepped on it, and I flinched, covering my ears with my hands. _Go away_, I tried to tell them, but my voice was caught in my throat. The sounds stopped, and I gingerly removed my hands from my ears, going back to my lifeless state. I kept my eyes closed, so that I could stew in total darkness, but a sudden bright light snagged the corner of my eye. Was it sunrise already?

"Bella?" A strangely familiar voice sounded in my ears, and light footsteps headed in my direction. The footsteps stopped in front of me, and I willed my eyes open, seeing the brightness of a flashlight right in my face. My rescuer put his flashlight down on the tree root, bending down to examine me. I stared back at him blankly, absorbing his features. He was pale, with the face of an angel and the hair the color of a bronze statue. His abnormal golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark, and they examined me carefully.

"Bella," he said in a soothing velvety voice, "are you okay?"

I didn't respond, still staring at him with unrecognizing eyes. Who was he, again?

"Bella, it's me…Edward." Edward Cullen…A friend…At least he had come to find me. I must've said something –although I don't remember saying anything–, for he stroked my forehead with gentle but cold fingers.

"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry…" He held out his hand, and when I didn't respond or reach for it, he hoisted me up, slipping one arm under my legs and the other behind my head. The second he held me to his chest, I snuggled up against him, even though it was like snuggling up to the refrigerator. Edward's foster parents didn't believe in heaters, making his adapting temperature strangely lower than average. At the moment, it should've clicked in my mind that I was snuggling up to a neutral friend, but I didn't care. A small smile on his face, Edward adjusted me in his arms before he scooped up his flashlight with one hand and started towards a brighter light source.

"I got her," he called, and the sounds of human voices answered him, swarming me. No particular face clicked in my mind, but I did recognize another two pairs of golden eyes gazing at me. Everyone was asking me questions, but I cowered, hiding in Edward's muscular chest like a baby. Edward lifted me closer to him in a comforting fashion, and started towards another person who was standing alone by the sidelines.

"Charlie, I think something's wrong," he said softly to that person. "She keeps whispering, 'He left me.'" Shoot, so that's what I said to him before. I clamped my mouth shut, pressing my cheek against Edward's heavy jacket.

"Bella," the other person asked, "baby, sweetie, are you okay?"

"Daddy?" I whimpered, my voice as small as an infant.

"I'm right here, sweetie." His voice was full of relief, and I felt his light touch on my cheek.

"I want to go home," I cried softly, sounding more like a child.

"I'll take her, Charlie," Edward offered, and Charlie moved over to let us by.

With that, Edward started walking in a graceful fashion through the woods, stepping gingerly over each branch so he wouldn't drop me. I clung to his shirt as we walked, staring up ahead of us to the lampposts and the houses, all lit as if to guide us home.

Soon we were at Charlie's house, and Charlie was ahead of us, opening the door and leading us to the couch. Edward started to put me down on it, but I dug my fingers deeper into his shirt. Sighing, Edward sat down, carrying me absently in his lap like I was a small child. The scent of a former person –one that was husky and warm, and tinted carefully with the scent of forest– was still on the couch, and I twisted away, trying to focus on Charlie's leathery smell or the scent of Edward. Yes, the sweet smell of Edward blocked the other out.

"Bella?" Another familiar voice filled my ears, and I turned to look into the honey eyes of a blonde, gorgeous man in a white doctor's coat.

"Dr. Cullen?" I asked in my small voice.

"That's right, Bella," he said encouragingly. "Are you hurt, Bella?" Was I hurt? Physically, probably no, but emotionally? That was on a whole other level.

Dr. Cullen was still waiting for my answer, so I answered, "No."

His cold fingers, only a degree warmer than Edward's, gently pressed against my forehead, and then feeling my wrist. After a few moments, he lightly probed the back of my head, feeling for any sensitive areas. "Bella, can I ask what you were doing in the forest?"

I froze for a moment, and then relaxed and turned away, studying the pattern on Edward's jacket, now visible in the light. No offense to him, but who the hell wore a gray pea coat in Forks? But, then again, it was really soft…

"Bella," Edward said gently, stroking a stray strand of hair away from my face. His cool touch soothed my skin, and I shuddered. "Bella," he repeated, "can you tell Carlisle why you were in the forest?"

"I was taking a walk," I mumbled, "and I got lost." I yawned. "May I take a nap, please?"

"Of course, Bella," Dr. Cullen replied, releasing my head so that I could relax on Edward, who in turn also settled in. I closed my eyes and went limp, pretending to fall immediately to sleep but actually listening to the conversations around me.

Edward didn't seem to mind the extra weight he had on his lap; in fact, he was very casual about it, and didn't try and get rid of me straight away. A little after I made soft snoring sounds to confirm my drowsiness, he started to rock me carefully back and forth as he too listened in on his father's conversation.

"Are they really gone?" I heard Charlie ask Dr. Cullen.

"Billy told me this morning," Dr. Cullen said in his tranquil voice. "Tribal problems out of state, and they didn't want to make a scene. The reservation is empty right now, all of the houses just…abandoned."

"They could've at least warned her. How the hell did she end up in a forest two miles away from her school, without her truck?" muttered Charlie.

I had a feeling that Dr. Cullen knew the answer, but he didn't reply. But that was enough for me, and I fell into a true sleep. Later, I woke up as Edward was carrying me up the stairs and setting me on my bed, pulling a quilt over me and tucking me in. He whispered a caring goodbye before closing the door behind him, and I drifted away again.

When I awoke, it was eleven o'clock in the morning, and a storm was raging outside. I got up from my bed, pulling the quilt with the lingering scent of Edward around my shoulders, and peeked through the windows at the humongous storm clouds that were almost as black as coal. I shivered, thinking of what dreadful future my former love was reading in the skies, and turned to the door of my room.

Charlie wasn't downstairs, meaning he had let me skip school for the day. That was okay, I guess; it would give me time to recollect my thoughts and properly mask my emotions. I went back to my room, sitting on the edge of my bed and staring at the wall, tempted to return to my slumber. But that's when I noticed something peculiar.

The USB where I stored all of the pictures taken from my digital camera was on my nightstand, rather than sitting comfortably on my desk. In addition to that, the cap was missing from the top of the USB and my camera was facing the opposite direction on the edge of my laptop. Suddenly, I felt horror sink in, and I jumped to my feet, the quilt falling off from around my shoulders. I opened my laptop, waiting impatiently for it to load and then plugged in the USB.

The first picture shocked me. It wasn't him in the kitchen, or even a picture of Emily's backyard. Instead, it was a picture of a vase, the camera focused on the bright blue of the abstract designs on it. I clicked on the previous picture, and was even more surprised that it went straight to an awkward picture of me jumping face down off the deck, prepared to land on the soft squishy grass of the yard. I skimmed through all of the pictures, desperate to see his face or a face of someone I knew, but there were no remaining photos of my past life.

…_For now, it will be like all of us never existed in your life…_

"Oh my God," I whispered, soundlessly falling off my chair and sinking on the floor. The world was spinning now, and I laid my cheek on the floor, feeling the coolness of the wood. "Oh my God."

"Oh my God."

And all I can remember now is darkness.

* * *

Oh my God indeed, Bella.

Thoughts? Comments? Please review and let me know :)

I'm not sure when I'm going to put up the next chapter, but think in about a week to a week and a half. Until then, my dearies :) Happy halloween and don't eat too much sugar!

~Geneth


	5. Waking Up & Cheating

**Happy New-Moon-Movie-Comes-Out-Whoopie-Sing-Shout-Dance Day!**

Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? :) Well, schools been a pain in the butt, and every time I tried sitting down to post a new chapter, ether schoolwork got in the way, I was too tired to even type in a few letters, or I mysteriously lost my flashdrive (But I found it so haha :D)

So, here it is: I've fast forwarded all of the blank pages Stephenie Meyer left us because that be a big waste of computer space :P Also, I've literally erased Jessica to a much much more minor character...In her place will be Priya, the waitress from _Il Cane Mangia Dapprima_, the restaurant where Jacob and Bella ate together in Port Angeles in the **Twilight: Reversed Roles** retake of Edward and Bella at _La Bella Italia_ (By the way, here's a fun fact: The restaurant they went to in the movie of **Twilight** was actually called _The Bloated Toad_ :D)

Enjoy darlings :)

~Geneth  
PS The following chapter contains a lot of my friend's names, because I love them so much :) Stephenie Meyer used her family member's names; I used my BFFs' names :D  
PPS Please check out my new baby, **He's Just Not That Into You**. It's basically like the movie...only cooler, with Twilight characters, and a great thing to write :)

* * *

From that day on, I went about my business like a robot. A lifeless, unthinking, people-pleasing robot. I went to school, achieved straight A's with no effort whatsoever, went to parties with the Welcoming Committee, absently acknowledged Mike, Tyler, and Eric's flirting, and came home every night by curfew still hanging in the air. I even found a job working weekends at _Il Cane Mangia Dapprima_, a restaurant in Port Angeles, thanks to one of the waitresses, Priya, who I liked because she seemed to drop the topic of the former holder of my heart. She became such good friends with my zombie-like self that I had stayed over in her apartment during weekends, when we had to work pass midnight at the popular restaurant.

What surprised me, though, was Charlie's reaction to my routine. He seemed to utterly loathe the fact that I was breaking away from all of my former wolf drama and pretending to move on. He glared at me across the table during every meal, although I couldn't understand why he was so upset though; if I were my own parent, I would've been at least happy.

"Bella, it's settled: You're moving back with your mother and Phil."

Those words, said during a homemade breakfast of omelets and bacon, snapped me awake from my trance and I glanced up from my food at Charlie. "What?!"

"You heard me," Charlie replied, licking the last bits of bacon grease off his face. "You're going to Florida. I think it's about time that you stop this funny business and move on."

"What funny business?" I demanded. "I haven't done anything bad. I go out with friends, get a spotless report card, and even have a part-time job at one of the hottest restaurants in Port Angeles. What am I doing wrong, Dad?"

Charlie's face softened for a moment, and he now spoke in a softer tone. "Bella, I know you're still moping about…"

"Don't you dare say his name," I hissed, standing up from the table and taking my dishes to the dishwasher, newly installed thanks to my searching of the Yellow Pages during my spare time.

Ignoring me, Charlie continued. "I know you're still moping about him, even though you engross yourself with activities to hide it. I caught you talking about…_him_ in your sleep again, Bella, and I'm worried. You have to truly move on, honey, or you'll be trapped here forever."

"Maybe I want to be trapped here forever," I snapped, slamming the dishwasher shut and hitting the on button. The dishwasher began to hum, and I went to the living room to fetch my bag and books.

Charlie followed me into the living room, standing in the doorway while I shoved my textbooks into my overstuffed bag. "All I'm saying, Bella, is –oh, I don't know– go out and do something. That's the only way you can really move on from…_him_."

"Fine," I sighed reluctantly, getting up from the floor. "I'll get Priya to set me up to like hang out with some people in Port Angeles, okay?"

"What?!" Charlie's face flushed colors. "Not Port Angeles! None of those big guys from there! I meant like some of kids from your school, like…eh…Mike Newton!"

"Mike Newton can kiss my ass, Dad," I said sweetly, giving him a kiss on the cheek and heading out the door before he could react.

Because of my rush to get out of the house, I got to school early and I pulled into my usual parking spot, the eight other ones next to mine unoccupied since September. It didn't matter that the former occupants of those spots no longer attended our school; everyone admitted that they were scared that if they took the spots, those very people would return and wring their necks. As I sat in my car, quietly reflecting my conversation with Charlie only a few minutes ago, I pulled out my cell phone, fully ready to follow through with my father's words.

As the phone rang, I ran my fingers over the beaten backing of my phone. The decoration previously on it was gone, so the back panel was worn and beaten in several areas, with a small bloodstain in the corner of the phone that represented my struggle to remove the stencil. The people who had put it on my phone had used some sort of special glue on it, and I almost broke my entire phone removing it.

She picked up after the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Priya," I said shyly.

"Oh hey, Bella," she replied with easy familiarity. In the background, I heard the bustling noises of the waitress' private section of the restaurant. _She must be just checking in_, I thought to myself. "How's it going? Wait a second, aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

"Actually, I have a few minutes, and I have a quick question."

"Sure; what's on your mind, Bell?"

I half-frowned at the nickname, one that was too familiar to another old one, given to me by my former life. I pretended to like it at work, but I secretly wished everyone would stop calling me that. "My dad wants me out of the house and moving on, so I told him I'd ask you to hook me up with some people during the weekend."

"Actually," she said, "I'm hanging out with some old friends after work tonight, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came along."

"Great," I said, forcing enthusiasm into my voice. "Where are we going?"

"Movie and a dinner. Old fashioned, I know, but we've been like close since grade school, so don't get me started. I'm picking up one of my girlfriends in a place near Forks, so I'll pick you up too, 'kay?"

"Gotcha. See you later, Priya."

"Bye, Bell." And then she hung up, my savior from Charlie for the night and hopefully the weekend.

The whole day blew by, with me slowly slipping back into my trance. I did my schoolwork, ate with the Welcoming Committee, and avoided all invitations to go down to the beach during the weekend. There was no way I was returning to that particular beach, and I had a feeling more than half of the Committee knew that, but they still asked me for no reason. The trance took me out of school as the final bell rang at the end of the day and drove me home, walked me to my room, and ordered me to choose clothing to wear.

When Priya knocked on my door an hour and a half later, I still hadn't chosen anything good. There was no way I was going to Port Angeles in a sweatshirt and dirty jeans, and I had all of my simple outfits packed away in my overnight bag to take to Priya's condo. Besides, judging by her own beautiful and brightly colored outfit hanging on her naturally thin frame, whatever I had chosen before was so preposterous to wear.

I let her in, explaining my dilemma, and she laughed and offered to help me. She browsed through my clothing while I hovered next to her, pointing out stuff I liked and stuff I preferred not to wear, and she finally suggested gray jeans, and a white long-sleeved shirt worn under a short-sleeved black sweater dress.

"Now, all we need is a jacket," she said brightly, opening my closet and going through all of my racks. She got to the very back and pulled out a hanger with a garbage bag thrown over it. She raised an eyebrow and took the bag off from over it. I wanted to childishly cover my eyes or run out of the room, but instead I sank onto my bed as she examined it with sparkling eyes.

"Bell, this is the one! Look at it; it's like something from Paris!" Priya ran her fingers over the silken designs of the dark gray trench.

"I…It's for weddings and funerals only," I stammered, reaching into my closet and pulling out a black denim coat. "I think we're going to be late if we don't leave now." She shot me a curious look, shrugged, and put the dreaded coat back into my closet, stuffing the bag into my closet and following me out of the room.

I scribbled an explanation note to Charlie that read, "Respecting your wishes. Be home on Sunday at six. –B" and followed Priya to her glossy black Toyota, one that I had never seen we drove across town to pick Priya's friend up, I asked her about the car. "Was it a present?"

Her fingers clenched the leather steering wheel a bit harder, but carefully relaxed as she shrugged. "You could call it a present, but I consider it a guilt gift." She stretched her elegantly long fingers, smothered with lotion to cover up the marks she received from being a waitress.

"A guilt gift?" I repeated slowly, looking down at her hand. The ring that had been so shiny and bright the first time I met her was gone, replaced by a simple heart ring that wrapped around her ring and middle finger like handcuffs.

"Bell, have you ever gone out with someone who just decided he wanted to leave you?" Her simple words made me freeze in my chair, and I slowly turned away from her, uncomfortable and for some reason, on the verge of crying. She instantly understood her words, and she shook her head, as if waking up for the first time.

"Oh God, Bella, I'm sorry…I didn't mean it like that…"

"No, no, its okay, Priya," I said, my voice more confident and calm than my own feelings. "I should be over it by now…"

Just then, we pulled up in front of a large brick house that was indeed about five blocks outside of Forks and on the "countryside". Priya honked the horn, drumming her fingers on the wheel while mumbling to herself about how boys were too much trouble to deal with. I looked up at the large house to see a delicate girl stepping out it. She had short hair that was jet black and curly, and pixy-like features that reminded me strangely of little Alice Cullen, only with more sensible, non fashionista-like clothing.

"Priya," she said with a perfect smile, entering the car and settling down in the roomy backseat, "God, has it really been almost a year since our last encounter? It seems like only yesterday…Oh, you brought a friend. God, where are my manners? I'm Eira." She held out a manicured hand, having said all of that in a single breath. I shook it, having a feeling that we were going to get along fine.

"Eira is originally from New York, like me," Priya explained as we started onto the highway, "and she still thinks she's in NYC, so her speech is slightly faster than the rest of us slow Washington citizens."

Eira rolled her dark eyes. "I still don't know why I moved out of the city that never sleeps into the city that always sleeps. God, who am I kidding? Inspiration for stories never comes from a place that's greener than the Grinch on Christmas." She started a conversation with Priya as they argued over which city was better. They invited me into their conversation, and I finally relaxed in my seat, knowing the previous topic had been diverted.

When we arrived at the movie theater and found Priya's other friends, I found that they were so friendly that I felt like I had been initiated into the group. Although I could never compete with their fast-paced New Yorker speak, I at least looked like them, outfit wise. I felt strangely at ease as I talked and nodded with them.

The other girls were Fauna, a pretty girl with friendly eyes and wisps of dark hair framing her face, and Chasina, a muscular beauty with blond gold hair trailing down her back. Both still lived in New York City, having stayed there over the years. Damon and Neil, two friendly close friends who Priya explained moved to Alaska a few years back, were easy to identify, partly because Damon was thin to the extreme while Neil's skin was a warm chocolate brown, but I had trouble determining the difference between the similar-looking Sebes and Aidan. Aidan was rounder, and Sebes was obviously the more athletic of the two, but both had recently moved to different places in California, and their relaxed ways made them even harder to tell apart.

Everyone was voting for the movie, and all of the other girls wanted to watch some vampire romance that had finally came out here. I flinched at the mention of romance, and quietly voted for the boy's choice, a science-fiction thriller about aliens and guns. Priya shot me a look, but I shrugged and headed into the theater with everyone else.

I knew I made a wrong choice the first five minutes in. The supposed "edge-of-your-seat" movie had background plot about a lovey-dovey relationship between two of the astronauts, and I resisted the urge to crawl under my seat and hide. Luckily, ten minutes later, a bunch of aliens started attacking everybody, so I had an excuse to cover my face in disgust.

The two astronauts turned out to be the only survivors of the horrific invasion and, to celebrate their survival, the screen got a bit more graphic for me to handle. I got up from my seat, smartly maneuvering around the engrossed movie-watchers to the lobby.

"Bella, where are you going?" Priya whispered after me as the male lead started to peck at the girl's neck.

"I need to use the bathroom," I mumbled sheepishly as some of the movie's watchers shushed me out of the theater.

I made it to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the sink, still feeling a bit queasy. _Get over it, Bella, _I ordered myself_, he hasn't written to you, called you, even made sure your future was okay by the damn storm clouds. Admit it, Charlie's right. Move. On_. I twisted the sink's knob, turning on the water flow and slowly splashing my face. I checked myself in the mirror, and then, sighing, I stepped back into the lobby, where I found the group waiting for me.

As I stood awkwardly at the side, Damon was the first to notice me. He nudged my arm with his pointy elbow, and I swear, I could feel his bones. "Don't like those types of scenes, Bella?"

"Yeah," I said with a fake smile, "Did I miss anything good?"

"Not really; the only thing you missed was the alien erupting from the heroine's stomach and eating them both," Neil replied with a grin. "Bet you didn't expect that, huh?"

_Honestly, I don't expect many things…_ "Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, faking a laugh that sounded just a bit off.

We eventually left the theater, with everyone discussing who the hotter female character was. I didn't try and enter the conversation, and I could sense Priya's eyes staring at me, wondering why I was suddenly so uncooperative. We finally got to the parking lot and drove around in search of fast-food restaurants opened late.

As we sat on the hoods of the cars in the Wendy's parking lot eating, I looked to the side of the port, watching as a large group of men slowly swarmed out of the bar across the street. I licked the leftover sauce off my finger, examining the men and feeling the strongest sense of meeting these people before. Was it déjà vu or something far worse?

All of the men were in stark white uniforms, with perfect creases and folds on their sides. Their leader was the same as I remembered, a brawny man with dark hair and a cocky smile who watched the passing women with unforgettable lust in his eyes. He stopped watching the women and slowly lifted his eyes to meet mine, squinting at me with his eyebrows raised, undoubtedly trying to remember my face.

I was scared, but for some reason, I slowly slid off my spot on the trunk of Priya's car, my feet lightly touching the ground as I stood, looking at the man. The girls were staring at me as a I took a step forward, and Eira jumped off the car, landing next to me with her hands hovering just over her hips.

"Bella, what the hell are you doing?"

"I…I think I know those guys…" I pointed vaguely across the street at the drunken sailors in front. What the hell was I doing? I should've answered nothing and sat back down, and continued the night. But no, I was reminiscing in the forbidden memory of the first time I came to Port Angeles.

Was it irony that I was the same distant away from my déjà vu as I was in my memory? The man's features were permanently imprinted in my mind, as he lifted my chin up and went from innocent suitor to deadly stalker who promised me a good time. My hand clenched into fist as the memory of them trapping me in the forest, boxing me in against a tree and gleefully watching me shrink in terror flooded back into my mind. But, from this distance, I couldn't make out if they were the same people, and judging by the new look of curiosity in their leader's face, he didn't recognize me ether.

"Bella, sit down!" This voice belonged to one of the boys now, even though I couldn't identify it, nor did I want to. One of them grabbed my arm, trying to secure me.

"I'm just…I'm just going to check if I know that guy…" I could practically hear my heartbeat in my ears as I brushed away his hand and started again towards the men. I was just out of the parking lot when I felt someone grab my wrist again. I turned my head halfway and saw it was Priya, with a mixture of annoyance and horror in her eyes.

"Bella," she said in a slightly cold voice, "go back to the car and finish eating. You're embarrassing yourself right now…Besides, no one goes up to a group of drunken sailors in Port Angeles at ten o'clock at night unless they have a death wish." A death wish…Was that what I wanted?

Never had she spoken with such an authority over me in her voice, and she gave me a gentle yank back to the car. My body was screaming to follow her, trail after the older sister I never had and sit down, but my brain said something else. "I'm just checking if…if…" I firmly pulled my wrist away from her and took another step into the street when yet another voice stopped me.

"Bella!"

I froze, my foot just off the curb as the familiar husky voice sounded in my ears. It couldn't be…Was it really him? I slowly pivoted my head to look around, expecting to see him sitting on his motorcycle or standing on the street behind me, maybe exchanging a look with Priya as he yelled to me again. But he wasn't there, just Priya still staring at me alone with an odd expression on her face. So where was his voice coming from? I had placed my other foot in the street when he spoke again.

"Bella, don't do anything stupid. Pick your feet up and go back to Priya. Now!"

Now I was sure it was his voice, his name purposely forgotten in my mind. He wasn't here, but his voice was right there…Holy crap, so this is what crazy people feel when they hallucinate. The déjà vu of meeting my former attackers was probably triggering some sort of switch in my brain that let me hear my former life's voice, even giving it feeling so that I could think he was behind me.

"Bella. Turn. Around. Now." Come to think of it, I could almost feel his absurdly warm touch on my waist, hands and arms. I tinkled slightly, but I couldn't tell if it were from the newfound fear or from the non-existing touch. Reluctantly, I obeyed the voice in my head and turned back to Priya, who was still standing a few feet away with her eyes glowing with angry questions.

"Guess I don't know them," I said innocently as I walked briskly back to the cars and sat down, as if nothing had happened.

The night continued slower than usual. I could hear the effort in the group's voices as they tried to assume normal conversation, but it was impossible when I was the biggest talk of the night. The girls didn't bother to include me in their forced talks of some new Broadway production in the Big Apple, knowing that I was somewhere else in my own world.

And I was not technically with them, my mind floating around with my heart as they both waited for the pain of losing him to sink in and torture my being again. But it didn't. In fact, in replace of agony, I received a feeling of almost respite, relaxing that I had nearly confronted my fears and survived. But of course, there was a downside to my victory.

His face reappeared in my mind, his soft caressing touch still on my skin. His eye literally glowing as they would've searched my face for injuries if I had told him my tale, the way he would've wrapped his arms around me to comfort me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. Even the light touch of his lips against mine started to creep back into my mind, and I dug my nails into my palms, forcing myself to think of everything but him.

As I busily maneuvered from table to table in _Il Cane Mangia Dapprima_ the next day, I forced myself to focus on serving the people. My usual friendly smile seemed even more forced today, and my throat ached from calling everyone in the restaurant honey or sweetie. I scooped up the dishes from one crowded family table, slapped the check on the table with a spare hand and hustled back to the kitchen. One of the other waiters took the dishes from me, throwing them in the sink while two kitchen helpers worked busily on cleaning them.

"Bella! Table fourteen is occupied and you need to take their damn orders!" Priya yelled into the room as she did a graceful turn, balancing eight loaded plates of food onto her arms and sprinting back into the dining room. After the incident from yesterday, she had seemed more distant, still nice but with a coated sugar layer to disguise whatever she was feeling. Her friends probably thought I was suicidal or emo at this point, but I shook the thought off and followed her back into the packed dining room.

My new customers were a group of men in hunting gear, their faces and clothing stained with dirt from the woods. Men in their twenties and early thirties were the easiest people to get big tips from here, as Priya had taught me. All you had to do was smile a lot, pretend to visit their table often, even crack a few jokes with them and you'll see a large twenty under their water glass later.

"Hey guys," I said cheerfully, setting a bunch of menus on the table, "I'm Bella, your server for today here at _Il Carne_. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Yeah…Eight glasses of clean water!" a man with a shock of black and blonde streaked hair exclaimed as his friends burst into laughter.

"Ah, so the hunting trip went well?" I asked as I scribbled the word WATER down onto my pad.

"Are you kidding? All of the deer are disappearing," a man with dusty brown hair commented. "It's like they're ether dying or hiding. I found the carcass of one last time, with two bite marks on its jugular. Like a damn animal's going around and killing them all."

"Can't it be the mountain lion?" I asked sweetly, clueless and cute, the perfect combination for hungry men.

"I doubt it," the man with black and blonde hair replied. "Even the mountain lion are disappearing. I heard that Thompson saw a blur run past him when he was hunting, and later on saw a whole pack of deer slaughtered."

My heart pounded as he mentioned the blur. Too similar to _him_, if you asked me, but he would never return…Instead, I made a face at the men. "Hey! There are other people eating here…Keep the deer slaughtering to a minimum!" And with a shared laugh with the rest of the men, I hurried back to the kitchen to fill up their orders.

While the glasses were being filled up by another one of the kitchen helpers, I sat on a spare stool as _his_ face slowly crept into my mind. How he always told me that he was never full from just one human meal…Could he have accustomed a certain taste for Forks deer? No, course not…He was probably soaking up the sun in Miami while he scanned the beaches for his imprinted one.

My shift ended three hours later, my pockets full of the usual amount of tips. I sat down on a bench in front of the restaurant, slowly counting out my money. I mostly saved whatever I earned, filling up my savings with the increase of about one percent, and I knew I wasn't going anywhere with this. If I kept up this pace, I would probably slip back into my zombie state, and Charlie would hold up his rightful end of the deal.

I scanned the shops next to me, my eyes suddenly stopping on a sign on the front of the local music shop. In bold letters, the words **GUITARS FOR SALE! 75% OFF **seemed to click something on in my head, and I got to my feet and entered the small shop. The air smelled like the polish musicians use to clean their flutes and horns and whatnot, and the shopkeeper, a man with a sandy ponytail and rock star getup, looked at me suspiciously as I stood awkwardly near the front.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a slightly German-accented voice.

"Um yes, I'm here about the guitars…?" I looked around at the small boutique, spotting the boxes of On Sale guitars leaning against the wall.

He clucked his tongue in disproval. "You want those old things? They need a lot of tuning, and a lot of parts need to be replaced…The only reason why they're seventy-five percent off is because if no one buys them, they're in the dump first thing tomorrow."

"How much do you want for them?" I asked eagerly, gingerly picking one up from its box and examining it. It was gorgeous, pale white paint chipped all over it and, although the strings were missing, the neck was chipped, and the hole in the center seemed a bit too wide for a normal guitar, it was perfect.

"Twenty bucks," he said, still doubtful. "If you give me thirty, I'll throw in the other one too. It's just as bad, and no one's touched it in years." He bent over and pulled out another one that looked as if termites had attacked it, and was a dark reddish-brown color. "I wouldn't recommend it though…You'll need someone who's really good at fixing musical objects…"

_Or someone who's musical…Like say, Edward Cullen? He did say something once about fixing pianos, and this can't be much different…right?_

"Deal," I said, reaching into my pocket and handing most of my tips from the restaurant to pay the shopkeeper.

While he packed them in plastic wrap and put them in very retro looking guitar-holders, I used my cell phone to call my father's work phone. After politely asking the receptionist for Chief Swan, I stood by the side as the phone rang a single time before Charlie answered it.

"Bella, what's wrong? Are you hurt? I knew it! Port Angeles is a horrible, horrible, place and I will pick you up right now. Where are you? The hospital, the bar…jail? You're in jail! How could…"

"Dad. Stop talking." He quieted, and I spoke again. "I'm just calling to ask for the address to the Cullens' house. I haven't seen Edward since a few months ago, and I want to see how everything's going…Maybe I'll even chat with Alice…"

"The Cullens?" Charlie repeated.

"Um, yeah…Is that okay?"

"It's more than okay! Oh goodie, I'm sure Alice will have so much fun and Esme can make you some of her homemade food again and then you can innocently call me over to pick you up and she'll invite us and oh boy oh boy…" Oh great, I set off the alarm in Charlie's brain.

Eventually, I coaxed the address out from him and hung up while he was pausing for a breath. I took the guitars from the shopkeeper, thanking him again at the same time he thanked me for buying them. I came out of the shop, guitar case in ether hand, and I walked to the edge of the port, hailing down a passing taxi. Cars weren't allowed on the port, but if you stepped just a few feet off the wooden planks, you'd be practically surrounded by busy highways. The cabbie was surprised by my two carry-on items, but he made no comment as he drove onto the highway back to Forks.

As we drove along, I couldn't help but think about Dr. Carlisle Cullen's reaction to my arrival. It would probably be the same as Alice Cullen, the hyperactive pixie of the family: pure joy. The only minor exception was that Alice would look at me like a new plaything for herself while Dr. Cullen would see me as a new plaything for his children. And, probably, whatever his reaction would be, memories of a once forgotten wolf of Forks would come back into my mind. I bit my lip and forced myself to focus on the trees that suddenly were surrounding us from ether side.

When we pulled up on the side of the long path leading up to the Cullens' grand mansion, I saw a head peer out at us through the window. My heart thumped loudly, and I saw with relief that it was Edward Cullen, rather than his sister. I could see one perfect brow raise, and I timidly waved at him through the window of the taxi. His eyes suddenly understood, and a crooked smile appeared on his face. He disappeared from the window, only to appear a few seconds later at the front door of the house, jogging down the path to meet us.

"Bella!" His smile was even godlier up close, his white teeth just a few tints lighter than his pale skin. He didn't look like he had aged at all, his bronze hair still lightly tousled in the same fashion as it had been when I last saw him. The sleeves of his tight-fitting shirt were rolled up to his elbow, and his hands were stained slightly with something that looked like the graphite from the lead of a pencil.

I was a bit nervous about talking to him again. After all, the last time we had made contact, he was carrying me around during my venture to the woods, and I had snuggled and refused to let go. But he didn't show any signs of recognition of that particular event, and he opened the taxi door for me with a flourish of his graceful hands. He helped me out of the car, holding me arms-length away before he warmly gave me a hug. Warmly…that wasn't exactly the right word. His skin was still as icy cold as it had always been, and I shivered from the touch. I had forgotten how much I liked Edward, his musical ways and his natural good-looks.

"God, you haven't changed a bit," I laughed as we pulled away. "It's like you're a frozen statue."

"Oh please," Edward said, rolling his honey-golden eyes. I had to ask him how he got contacts in that color. Or, if it were his natural color, what the hell were Esme and Carlisle feeding him? "And speaking of never aging, you're turning into one of those pictures that never change and follow me with their eyes…Are those guitar cases in the backseat?" His eyes flickered over to the back of the taxi.

"Um yeah…Can we talk about this inside, away from the cold?"

He laughed, and the melodic tone of it temporarily dazzled me. "Sure, sure. But I should warn you: there's not much difference between here and the inside of the house."

Even though I insisted that I could cover it, Edward paid for my taxi ride, tipping the driver by at least twenty bucks. We each took a guitar case and headed into the large house, laughing at the speed of the frightened cabbie driving away. It's not as if the Cullens were scary…once you got to know them. Edward held the door open for me and, as he had said, the house's temperature was just a tad warmer than the weather outside.

I had only entered the Cullen house once from a side door connected to the garage, so I was surprised by the view of the interior walking in through the front of the house, just beyond a pair of large double doors. The curving staircase in the middle of the room looked more elegant, and a new crystal chandelier was hanging from the tall ceiling of the house. The house was more decorated than my last visit, with fresh flowers in crystal bowls scattered around the room, and what seemed to be another unfinished chess match at the bottom of the curving stairway.

Esme, Edward's foster mother who looked so similar to him in so many ways, appeared from one of the various hallways, wiping her hands daintily on an apron tied neatly around her waist. "Bella, what a surprise," she said with a warm smile. "Did Charlie send you for food?" Her eyes twinkled with amusement.

"No, actually, I came by to see Edward," I explained shyly. "I haven't seen him since a while ago, and I was wondering how he was doing…" I turned, embarrassed, towards Edward, who winked broadly back at me. "And, of course, I came to see Alice," I joked. As if she had heard me from above, Alice appeared at the top of the staircase. She too seemed as if she hadn't aged since I last saw her on a visit to their house with Charlie, and she slid quickly down the banister of the staircase, landing grandly on the floor in front of us with a large smile on her face.

"I knew you would come again!" she said, giving me a hug around my middle, which was about as far up as she could reach I think. "Oh God, you're all wet. Ooh, ooh, do you want to try on some dresses I got imported from Europe? Very expensive, but very, very pretty."

"Actually, Alice," Edward piped up, "Bella wanted me to show her the music room Carlisle gave me." His lie sounded so smooth that even I believed it for a moment.

"Oh, that old thing? It's been here for ages, while those dresses are going to be out of season in like a week!"

"Maybe next time, Alice," I said, quickly hurrying after Edward as he swiftly left the front hall and started down one of the long hallways in the Cullen house. He stopped in front of the last door, opened the door carefully with a key located in his jeans pocket, and ushered me in.

The room looked like something out of a recording studio. The floor was made of black square tiles, except for a small portion of the left side that had a plush white carpet on the floor, and every single wall was painted a light red color. On the west side of the room was a comfortable-looking red sofa and a few white leather stools surrounding a glass coffee table, On the east side, however, was a large soundboard, the type people used to record albums and such in studios with professional sound crews. A marble door and a large glass window separated this lounge from another room, one with a black baby grand piano raised up on a marble platform in the corner and a large mike dangling from the ceiling. A few feet away from it was a stool with a guitar expertly balanced on it.

"Wow," I commented, sitting down on the plush sofa and setting the guitar case on the floor

"Yeah," Edward replied, running his fingers through his bronze hair with his spare hand as he set the other case down next to the coffee table. "Carlisle followed through with his promise…" Dr. Cullen had promised Edward a new music room for him to compose more songs in if he had crashed my prom to deliver a message to me and another important person there. Too bad that important person was gone…

"So, Edward, what were you up to before I came?" I asked, deciding to divert the minefield.

"Just trying out some chords for some songs," he said innocently, motioning behind him to the recording room behind the glass. I now noticed a music stand and pad of paper in front of the guitar.

"You play the guitar, too?"

"Yeah, both bass and regular guitar. I used to give music lessons when we lived in Alaska, but had to give up the ol' business when we moved here."

My plan was slowly working out in my mind, and I smiled at this. "Well, then, I guess you can help me with the other reason why I came here."

"There was another reason? You didn't want to just visit me?" He made a face, pretending to be offended and sat down on one of the stools across from me, crossing his arms against his muscular chest.

"Actually, I wanted to see what you know about guitars." I opened the guitar case next to me, slowly pulling out the pale white guitar that I had purchased from Port Angeles.

Edward gently took it from me, cradling it in his arms while he turned it over repeatedly in his hands. He set it down on the table, opened up the other guitar case, and examined the oddly colored one as well. "I think these are Washburn guitars, very vintage and very old," he commented. "How much did you buy these for?"

"Only thirty bucks. The shopkeeper said he was going to send them to the dump tomorrow if no one purchased them. Do you know how to like fix them up?"

"I've done some work before," he admitted, "but it's not going to be easy. I can give it a shot…I've been trapped in this house for days because Esme's been cooping us in, so an activity could be good for me."

"Great," I said, smiling. "How much do you want for the fix-up?"

He glanced at me, offended for real this time. "You don't have to pay me, Bella. I want to help you out, not because you're shoving it in my face and ordering me to do so."

"Fine," I replied, thinking my plan over. "Okay, well, it's not like I'm going to be playing both guitars…So, how about if you fix one for me and give me lessons –because I don't know squat about guitars– I'll give you the other one?"

"Sounds like a deal," he grinned, the liquid gold in his eyes sparkling like twin suns. He ran his fingers over the cracked wood of the white guitar. "I've never seen a Washburn guitar like this," he murmured. "I think it's one of the few in the state…"

"You take that one then," I said generously.

"Oh, no, I couldn't," Edward said hesitantly, tempted but also resisting. "It's…I can always find another one…"

"No, seriously," I said, picking it up and handing it to him. "You look good with it," I added shyly.

A gorgeous half-smile spread across his face, and he held the guitar to him. "Fine, but no backsies." He handed the red-brown guitar to me, and raised an eyebrow. "It's strange, but I think the guitar matches your eyes." I flushed red before he even finished his sentence.

I had a feeling that these two instruments were only going to bring us closer.

* * *

And now Edward gets his turn :) Yes, I got some reviews about how no one was expecting it to really turn into a EdwardxBella story but remember: New Moon was about Jacob and Bella's budding relationship, but Bella only used Jacob for a "thrill" so she could see Edward more :P Think about that :D

Review! Review! Review! I'll be more obligated to post a new one faster! Review! Review! Review!

Also, please review **He's Just Not That Into You** :) It has no reviews so far, and I'd like to boost it up a little...Give it a chance, please?

~Geneth :)


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